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authorNorbert Preining <norbert@preining.info>2019-09-02 13:46:59 +0900
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+Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.mathworks.com!zombie.ncsc.mil!newsgate.duke.edu!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!paperboy.wellfleet.com!news3.near.net!amber.ora.com!not-for-mail
+From: norm@ora.com (Norman Walsh)
+Newsgroups: comp.fonts,comp.answers,news.answers
+Subject: comp.fonts FAQ: X11 Info
+Supersedes: <font-faq-15_817479312@ora.com>
+Followup-To: poster
+Date: 14 Aug 1996 10:35:29 -0400
+Organization: O'Reilly and Associates, Inc.
+Lines: 227
+Sender: norm@ruby.ora.com
+Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
+Distribution: world
+Expires: 27 Sep 1996 14:34:08 GMT
+Message-ID: <font-faq-15_840033248@ora.com>
+References: <font-faq-1_840033248@ora.com>
+Reply-To: norm@ora.com (Norman Walsh)
+NNTP-Posting-Host: ruby.ora.com
+Summary: This posting answers frequently asked questions about fonts.
+ It addresses both general font questions and questions that
+ are specific to a particular platform.
+X-Web-Homepage: http://www.ora.com/homepages/comp.fonts/
+Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.fonts:48312 comp.answers:20526 news.answers:79247
+
+Archive-name: fonts-faq/part15
+Version: 2.1.5
+
+Subject: 10. X11 Information
+
+ This section needs a lot of work. At the time of this release, I'm not
+ in a position to write it so I'm leaving it basically blank. Even if
+ you don't have time to write it, if you know what should be in this
+ section, please forward it to norm.
+
+Subject: 10.1. Getting X11
+
+ The standard location for X software is ftp.x.org.
+
+Subject: 10.2. Historical Notes about X11
+
+ The X Window System has been in widespread use through releases 3, 4,
+ and now 5 of X Version 11.
+
+ Fonts weren't really treated by the X Consortium very well until X11
+ release 5 (X11R5). In X11R3 and X11R4, the default format used by the X
+ servers was called SNF (server normal format). Basically the font was
+ formatted on disk in such a way that the X server could quickly read and
+ use it (it was basically a memory-dump). The important element of the
+ SNF format is that it was not a portable format: it depended on the
+ architecture of the machine running the server (little endian vs. big
+ endian, for example) and as a consequence you needed different directory
+ structures for different systems on your network. On top of that,
+ several systems vendors implemented their own font format, making font
+ portability even more difficult.
+
+ With X11R5, two things changed: the font service protocol was defined as
+ a standard and interoperable way for an X server to obtain fonts
+ (independent of their format, origin, or current location on disk) and
+ the default format for storing fonts was changed from SNF to PCF
+ (Portable Compiled Font). PCF is a format originally developed by DEC.
+ Its primary advantage is that it is not architecture dependent. That
+ is, if you compile a font to PCF format on different systems, then you
+ may end up having two different PCF files, but each system will be able
+ to read the other's file correctly.
+
+Subject: 10.3. X11 Font Formats
+
+ There are many different font formats that can play a role in an X11
+ system configuration. The following table summarizes some of the
+ common formats:
+
+ * BDF
+
+ The Bitmap Distribution Format (BDF) is the standard format for
+ distribution of fonts. It is an ASCII format so it can easily be
+ edited it with your favourite editor or E-mailed to other users.
+ As the name suggests, it stores bitmap fonts only.
+
+ Another virtue of the BDF format is that most font format
+ converters convert to or from this format. Means if you want to go
+ from format A to format B, neither of which is BDF, then you are
+ likely to convert A to BDF, then BDF to B.
+
+ The BDF format is defined by Adobe. A document describing the
+ format is available by ftp from Adobe's file server at
+ "ps-file-server@adobe.com". It is also available in the standard X
+ distribution. Look under ../X11R4(5)/mit/hardcopy/BDF. This
+ document is also reproduced in any text describing the X standard.
+
+ * SNF
+
+ The Server Normal Format (SNF) is an older format for bitmap
+ fonts. The format is X Server and host dependent. This means that
+ if you have two SNF files, their actual format may be different.
+ Also, if you have an "snftobdf" utility, it may not be able to
+ read font files from other systems. Convert to BDF format before
+ you move it off the host system.
+
+ Snftobdf is one utility that can generate a BDF file from a SNF
+ file. It was part of the X11R4 contrib release. To compile under
+ X11R5, you need some of the X11R4 snf include files.
+
+ * PCF
+
+ The Portable Compiled Font (PCF) format is a binary format for
+ bitmap fonts. The binary contains sufficient information to be
+ readable by other systems.
+
+ * PHIGS
+
+ These fonts are only applicable in PEX environments. PHIGS fonts
+ don't really have any relationship to the normal X font mechanism.
+
+ * DWF
+
+ The DECWindows Fonts (DWF) are bitmap fonts.
+
+ * Intellifont
+
+ These are HP scalable fonts.
+
+ * PFA/PFB
+
+ These are Adobe Type 1 PostScript fonts.
+
+ They can be used in X11R5 based X servers and font servers because
+ IBM has donated a renderer for this format to the X Consortium.
+ The renderer can be found on the X11R5 contrib, and on ftp.x.org.
+
+ * Speedo
+
+ This is a format from Bitstream, Inc. Bitstream has also donated a
+ font renderer to the X Consortium, and a couple of fonts.
+
+ I have been told that in order to use commercial fonts from
+ BitStream, you must patch the renderer somewhat to make it use the
+ right decryption code for the font.
+
+ * FB
+
+ These are Sun X11/NeWS format bitmap fonts used by the Sun
+ OpenWindows system.
+
+ You can use "convertfont" which comes with OpenWindows to convert
+ to/from BDF.
+
+ * F3/F3B
+
+ This is the scalable Sun Folio format, also used by OpenWindows.
+
+ You can use "convertfont" to convert to (not from) BDF.
+
+Subject: 10.4. X11 Font Server
+
+ X11 Release 5
+ =============
+
+ With X11 Release 5, the X Consortium has created a network-based
+ standard font protocol. As a user of the X Window System, you have an X
+ server on your desktop, which does the interface between the hardware
+ (screen, mouse, keyboard), and the X network protocol. This X server
+ needs fonts. Before X11R5, the only way it could get to those fonts
+ was to make font directories readable for the X server on that host,
+ either by NFS-mounting or by copying.
+
+ With the X Font Service protocol, you just tell your X server that it
+ must use the services of a font server, which is a daemon process
+ sitting on a host on your network. The font server is a program which
+ talks a standardized protocol on the network, and which is capable of
+ reading several font formats.
+
+ The font server sources are modular, such that it is easy to add a
+ renderer for an additional font format to the existing code. This is
+ obviously also the intention: the X Consortium provides the core
+ technology, and supposes that all systems vendors will add font
+ renderers for their proprietary formats to the code, and then ship that
+ to their customers.
+
+ If you have a multi-vendor environment, then you are supposed to run a
+ font server on every host that carries the font files. Then all of the
+ X servers on your network can put all the fonts they need in their font
+ path. Automatically, IBM fonts will be requested from the font server
+ on an IBM host, DEC fonts from a DEC host, etc.
+
+ Other benefits of using font server technology include the ability of
+ the font server to implement caching, provide for fault-tolerant setup,
+ etc.
+
+ A final example of the good use of the font server is the combination
+ of a font server with a Type 1 font renderer. As mentioned above, IBM
+ donated a Type 1 font renderer which can easily be built into the X
+ font server. As the Type 1 font format, and the ATM format are the same,
+ it is perfectly possible to use commercial ATM fonts with the X Window
+ System. See also /contrib/fonts/lib/font/Type1/ in the X11
+ distribution.
+
+ X11 Release 6
+ =============
+
+ The X11R6 font server is very similar to the X11R5 server described
+ above. Under X11R6, the font server has been renamed to xfs and the
+ Type 1 rendering engine is now incorporated into the base
+ distribution--it is no longer a contributed package.
+
+Subject: 10.5. Fonts and utilities for X11
+
+ Here's a quick list of possible steps to get from "what you got" to X:
+
+ * Mac format bitmaps:
+
+ No idea. If you know how to read a Mac format bitmap file on some
+ other platform, please tell norm.
+
+ * PC format bitmaps:
+
+ Conversion to BDF is possible from TeX PK format and LaserJet
+ softfont format. Other conversions are also within the realm of
+ possibility. Feel free to ask norm for more information if you
+ have a specific conversion in mind.
+
+ * TeX PK format bitmaps:
+
+ PKtoBDF gets us directly to BDF format from here.
+
+ * Mac format postscript:
+
+ Under MS-DOS, conversion to PC format postscript allows the font to
+ be accessed with PS2PK (under *nix or MS-DOS). See above for TeX
+ PK to X conversions.
+
+ * PC/Unix format PostScript
+
+ Conversion to TeX PK with PS2PK allows you to get to BDF
+ (indirectly).
+
+ * XtoBDF, getbdf, FStoBDF
+
+ XtoBDF and getbdf are two public-domain applications which are
+ capable of asking an X server to give them all it knows about a
+ given font. They then print the BDF representation of that font on
+ stdout.
+
+ You can use these if you have an X server that can read some font
+ file, but nothing else can.
+
+ FStoBDF is distributed with X11R5.
+
+ If you use one of these programs, you may actually be converting a
+ scalable font into a bitmap font, but converting a bitmap font to a
+ scalable one is not currently possible.
+