[MPEG-OTSPEC] Introducing breaking changes into the spec (was: RE: [EXTERNAL] Proposal to deprecate derived search values)

[Laurence Penney]

You asked for it :)

https://www.axis-praxis.org/samsa/cubic/samsa-gui.html

This is a test build of Samsa which handles “ttf-cubic” fonts, a format I invented this afternoon! These are identical to TrueType fonts but have cubic curves instead of quadratic. Samsa identifies them by the first 4 bytes of the file: “CUBE” instead of 0x00010000.

There are two fonts in the drop-down list: MutatorSans.ttf and MutatorSans.ttf-cubic. The latter is 8% smaller, which is nice.

Create your own ttf-cubic fonts from (cubic) UFO-based variable font sources: replace "curve" with "qcurve" in all .glif files, run fontmake on the .designspace file, open the resulting ttf in a hex editor, overwrite CUBE on the first 4 bytes, rename extension ".ttf-cubic" and you’re done.

- Laurence

> On 15 Sep 2020, at 16:29, Roderick Sheeter <rsheeter at google.com> wrote:
> 
> I see the hackers path as wide open! Font compiler and rendering stack are open source, we can (and IMHO should) play with implementation as early as we like without regard for business cases and spec changes. Q
> 
> We just have to remember if we want other people to implement we need to do our due diligence at some point and get the spec updated.
> 
> On Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 12:22 AM Simon Cozens <simon at simon-cozens.org> wrote:
> On 15/09/2020 04:50, David Lemon wrote:
> > But I'd seriously emphasize Peter's points about building the business 
> > case. I kinda get the sense Dave thinks it will all be self evident, but 
> > that's not how business cases work. As someone who struggled to get 
> > required buy-in for some of the main developments we use today, I can 
> > assure you there's no such thing as a no-brainer.
> 
> As much as it pains me (as a gung-ho developer) to admit this, I think 
> you're right. Unless there are clear and compelling reasons to move to 
> something else, it won't happen. Building both the business case and the 
> coalition is really important.
> 
> That said, I would strongly *recommend* putting the cart before the 
> horse! Or at least allowing the cart and the horse to be in whatever 
> order people like. For some of the people you want to have involved, a 
> period of frenzied, anything-goes creativity about what a new font 
> format might look like (whether here or elsewhere) will expose where the 
> energy is and where the current pain points are much better than forcing 
> them to articulate a business-focused justification. So long as all 
> concerned are aware that this is just brainstorming and not every wild 
> idea is likely to be taken up, then I think it's important not to quench 
> that creativity too prematurely. We can attack the issue from both ends 
> simultaneously: gather ideas and building the business case. Indeed, 
> each will need to inform the other.
> 
> To put it another way, thinking about implementation is precisely how 
> developers express what's important to them.
> 
> S
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