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authorKarl Berry <karl@freefriends.org>2014-06-18 23:14:29 +0000
committerKarl Berry <karl@freefriends.org>2014-06-18 23:14:29 +0000
commitc5edd50aeb2c7508b5f1f856bdaa012239e86476 (patch)
treeb3ecc5d55ddf7f6f5099305f18c7ee1759b0e349 /Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-getit.tex
parentc04fbad5aaa7648bdafba2e41f8390af5e0cb82b (diff)
FAQ-en (10jun14)
git-svn-id: svn://tug.org/texlive/trunk@34303 c570f23f-e606-0410-a88d-b1316a301751
Diffstat (limited to 'Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-getit.tex')
-rw-r--r--Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-getit.tex76
1 files changed, 45 insertions, 31 deletions
diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-getit.tex b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-getit.tex
index f07eef697a8..8cdd9ccc5ba 100644
--- a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-getit.tex
+++ b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/faq-getit.tex
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-% $Id: faq-getit.tex,v 1.10 2012/03/31 09:22:17 rf10 Exp rf10 $
+% $Id: faq-getit.tex,v 1.11 2014/01/22 17:29:03 rf10 Exp $
\section{Acquiring the Software}
@@ -197,8 +197,8 @@ But how to find the files?
Modern distributions (\texlive{} and \miktex{}, at least) provide the
means to update your system ``over the net''. This is the minimum
effort route to getting a new file: `simply' find which of the
-distributions `packages' holds the file in question, and ask the
-distribution to update it. The mechanisms are different (the two
+distribution's `packages' holds the file in question, and ask the
+distribution to update itself. The mechanisms are different (the two
distributions exhibit the signs of evolutionary divergence in their
different niches), but neither is difficult~--- see % ! line break
``\Qref*{using \miktex{} for installing}{Q-inst-miktex*}'' and % ! line break
@@ -212,30 +212,32 @@ Some sources, such as these \acro{FAQ} answers, provide links to
files: so if you've learnt about a package here, you should be able to
retrieve it without too much fuss.
-Otherwise, the \acro{CTAN} sites provide searching facilities, via the
-web: at Dante with \URL{http://dante.ctan.org/search.html}, at
-Cambridge with \URL{http://www.tex.ac.uk/search.html}.
+Otherwise, \acro{CTAN} provides a full-text search, at its
+\href{http://www.ctan.org/}{`central database'} site, as well as
+topic- and author-based indexes and a link to browse the archive
+itself.
-Two search mechanisms are offered: the simpler search, locating files
-by name, simply scans a list of files (\File{FILES.byname}~--- see
-below) and returns a list of matches, arranged neatly as a series of
-links to directories and to individual files.
+% Two search mechanisms are offered: the simpler search, locating files
+% by name, simply scans a list of files (\File{FILES.byname}~--- see
+% below) and returns a list of matches, arranged neatly as a series of
+% links to directories and to individual files.
-The more sophisticated search looks at the contents of each catalogue
-entry, and returns a list of catalogue entries that mention the
-keywords you ask for.
+% The more sophisticated search looks at the contents of each catalogue
+% entry, and returns a list of catalogue entries that mention the
+% keywords you ask for.
An alternative way to scan the catalogue is to use the catalogue's
% ! line break
\href{http://mirrors.ctan.org/help/Catalogue/bytopic.html}{``by topic'' index};
-this lists a series of topics, and \AllTeX{} projects that are worth
-considering if you're working on matters related to the topic.
+this is an older mechanism than the topic-based search (above), but is
+well presented (even though its data has not been updated for some time).
In fact, \ProgName{Google}, and other search engines, can be useful
tools. Enter your search keywords, and you may pick up a package that
-the author hasn't bothered to submit to \acro{CTAN}. If you're using
-\ProgName{Google}, you can restrict your search to \acro{CTAN} by
-entering
+the author hasn't bothered to submit to \acro{CTAN}.
+
+A user of \ProgName{Google} can restrict the search to
+\acro{CTAN} by entering
\begin{quote}
\texttt{site:ctan.org tex-archive \meta{search term(s)}}
\end{quote}
@@ -249,11 +251,12 @@ file searches use. This file, \File{FILES.byname},
presents a unified listing of the archive (omitting directory names and
cross-links). Its companion \File{FILES.last07days} is also useful, to
keep an eye on the changes on the archive. Since these files are
-updated only once a day, a nightly automatic download (perhaps using
+updated only once a day, a nightly automatic download (using
\ProgName{rsync}) makes good sense.
\begin{ctanrefs}
\item[FILES.byname]\CTANref{f-byname}
\item[FILES.last07days]\CTANref{f-last7}
+\LastEdit{2014-03-19}
\end{ctanrefs}
\Question[Q-findfont]{Finding new fonts}
@@ -262,14 +265,15 @@ Nowadays, new fonts are seldom developed by industrious people using
\mf{}, but if such do appear, they will nowadays be distributed in
the same way as any other part of \alltex{} collections. (An
historical review of Metafont fonts available is held on \acro{CTAN}
-as ``\mf{} font list''.) Nowadays, most new fonts that appear are
-only available in some scalable outline form, and a large proportion
-is distributed under commercial terms.
+as ``\mf{} font list''.)
-Such fonts often make their way to the free distributions (at least
-\texlive{} and \miktex{}) if their licensing is such that the
-distributions can accept them. Commercial fonts do not get to
-distributions, though support for some of them is held by \acro{CTAN}.
+Nowadays, most new fonts that appear are only available in some
+scalable outline form, and a large proportion is distributed under
+commercial terms. Such fonts will only make their way to the free
+distributions (at least \texlive{} and \miktex{}) if their licensing
+is such that the distributions can accept them. Commercial fonts
+(those you have to pay for) do not get to distributions, though
+support for some of them is held by \acro{CTAN}.
Arranging for a new font to be usable by \alltex{} is very different,
depending on which type of font it is, and which \tex{}-alike engine
@@ -278,13 +282,22 @@ you are using; roughly speaking:
\item MetaFont fonts will work without much fuss (provided their
sources are in the correct place in the installation's tree);
\tex{}-with-\ProgName{dvips}, and \pdftex{} are ``happy'' with them.
+ While a new font will need `generating' (by running \mf{}, etc.),
+ distributions are set up to do that ``on the fly'' and to save the
+ results (for next time).
\item Adobe Type 1 fonts can be made to work, after \extension{tfm}
and (usually) \extension{vf} files have been created from their
- metric (\extension{afm}) files.
-\item TrueType fonts can be made to work with \pdftex{}, using the
- techniques discussed in ANSWER TO BE WRITTEN
+ metric (\extension{afm}) files; \extension{map} files also need to
+ be created. Such fonts will work with \pdftex{}, and with the
+ (`vanilla')\alltex{} and \ProgName{dvips} combination.
+\item TrueType fonts can be made to work with \pdftex{}~--- see
+% ! line break
+\href{http://www.radamir.com/tex/ttf-tex.htm}{Using TrueType fonts with \tex{}\dots{}}
+ (a rather dated document, dicsussing use with \miktex{}~1.11).
\item TrueType and OpenType fonts are the usual sort used by \xetex{}
- and \luatex{}; they ``just work'' with those engines.
+ and \luatex{}; while straightforward use is pretty easy, one is
+ well-advised to use a package such as \Package{fontspec} to gain
+ access to the full range of a font's capabilities.
\end{itemize}
The answer ``\Qref*{choice of scalable fonts}{Q-psfchoice}'' discusses
@@ -292,9 +305,10 @@ fonts that are configured for general (both textual and mathematical)
use with \AllTeX{}. The list of such fonts is sufficiently short that
they \emph{can} all be discussed in one answer.
\begin{ctanrefs}
+\item[fontspec.sty]\CTANref{fontspec}
\item[\nothtml{\rmfamily}\MF{} font list]\CTANref{mf-list}
\end{ctanrefs}
-\LastEdit{2012-03-27}
+\LastEdit{2014-01-21}
\Question[Q-CD]{The \TeX{} collection}