Re: Proposed fix for Malayalam (& other Indic?) chars and wcwidth

[Rich Felker <dalias@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Nov 01, 2006 at 01:34:14PM +0600, Christopher Fynn wrote:
> Yes, Indic scripts like Malayalam need specific console fonts. I think 
> for console applications legibility is more important that beauty.
> 
> Why not use the typefaces used in old-fashioned Indian typewriters as a 
> starting point? Most of the popular mono-with fonts for Latin (Courier 
> etc.) are based on typewriter faces.
> 
> Manual mechanical typewriters had a fixed advance width and the 
> "resolution" was fairly low - a lot of care and expertise went into 
> designing typefaces that were legible within these constraints.

Thanks for the constructive ideas. Of course you're totally right,
this approach makes sense. There is still the character/glyph issue
with regard to width, since typewriters of course work with glyphs
rather than characters, but that's unavoidable.

> I know typewriters made by companies like Remington were manufactured 
> for most Indian scripts - and I suspect a lot of these machines are 
> still around - so it shouldn't be too hard to come up with some type 
> samples to use as a starting point.

Yes, I'm sure they are. I suppose now I just have to find someone who
has one and who can explain it well.

Rich


--
Linux-UTF8:   i18n of Linux on all levels
Archive:      http://mail.nl.linux.org/linux-utf8/