[gnu.ghostscript.bug] fonts

hrp@boring.cray.com (Hal Peterson) (07/26/89)

X11R3 comes with a large set of BDF files for PostScript fonts,
including Courier, Helvetica, New Century Schoolbook, Times, and
Bitstream Charter.  All of the ones I've checked have a notice near
the beginning similar to this one:

    COMMENT  Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and
    COMMENT  its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby
    COMMENT  granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all
    COMMENT  copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission
    COMMENT  notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of
    COMMENT  [company] not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to
    COMMENT  distribution of the software without specific, written prior
    COMMENT  permission.  [Company] makes no representations about the
    COMMENT  suitability of this software for any purpose.  It is provided "as
    COMMENT  is" without express or implied warranty.

so they're free.  It would be a straightforward matter of programming
to convert the BDF files to PostScript files, meanwhile changing the
bitmaps into outlines with imagecharpath. There's even a BDF parser
buried somewhere in bdftosnf, which also comes with the X11R3
distribution; that could be the starting point for bdftops.  Combine
that with a version of btoi.ps rewritten to handle fonts with
proportional spacing, and voila!  Fonts.

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