[Libreoffice-bugs] [Bug 103080] A new default set of bundled fonts

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=103080

Ulrich Windl <Ulrich.Windl at rz.uni-regensburg.de> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
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                 CC|                            |Ulrich.Windl at rz.uni-regensb
                   |                            |urg.de

--- Comment #40 from Ulrich Windl <Ulrich.Windl at rz.uni-regensburg.de> ---
(In reply to Yousuf Philips (jay) from comment #0)
[...]
> Step 1 - Removals
> =================
> The current font bundle takes up 42.5 MB and 45% (19.2 MB) of it is taken up
> by the Linux Biolinum G, Linux Libertine Display G, and Linux Libertine G
> fonts and think they should be the first to go as they takes up way to much
> space, they arent highly used fonts, and Khaled Hosney mentioned that "they
> are unmaintained, and of limited value if we move to have OpenType features
> everywhere."

So the question is: Why had these fonts been added anyway?

> 
> The next thing on the chopping block would be the second largest font
> collection that takes up 22% (9.2 MB), Deja Vu. This Bitstream Vera
> derivative which has been around since OOo 2.4 is still being updated, but
> only has had 5 revisions since LO was created and has limited language
> support (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Armenian, Georgian). If letting go complete
> of Deja Vu isnt agreed upon, then I'd suggest we reduce its size by 45% (to
> 5.1 MB) by removing the Condensed and ExtraLight versions.

So most arguments seem to be distribution size.

> Step 2 - Replacements
> =====================
> In order to eliminate bundling similar and/or derivative fonts, we can
> substitute less useful fonts with others, similar to when Bitstream Vera was
> replaced by DejaVu. Open Sans resembled Droid Sans and has limited language
> support (Latin, Greek and Cyrillic) and doesnt have a serif equivalent that
> we can bundle. So we should replace this with the Droid derivative Noto font
> family, which has both sans and serif and unlimited language support, but i
> would suggest limiting the languages to what is covered in Deja Vu to begin
> with, which would take up 3.1 MB. (Tomaz and Adolfo both recommended this in
> bug 91150)

AFAIK LO still lacks a mechanism to group fonts by similarity and is able to
pick the most similar font for replacement. Even if it could, any font change
can ruin the design of any document.

> 
> Step 3 - Additions
> ==================
> With the removals and replacements, the fonts now take up ~16 MB and we can
> begin not only adding english fonts but open source fonts for languages we
> previously didnt support through our bundled fonts.
[...]

In summary I think:
1) Avoid font changes (shipped fonts, default fonts) whenever possible, because
it adds frustration to the existing user base.

2) As fonts change more rarely as the program code, I think it would be a valid
option to put the fonts in a separate package (like the offline help). Thus the
average download size for an update would be reduced also.

3) Too late, but: Pick the right fonts, meaning careful consideration which
font to add/use and why. Maybe the LO Team should get involved into maintaining
the fonts being used/shipped: Instead of dropping fonts because of some
problems, fix the fonts. That would add much stability on the long term.

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