[matplotlib-devel] Bundling exception for python-matplotlib fonts

  Hi,

  I asked for a bundling exception in Fedora, see

https://fedorahosted.org/fpc/ticket/381

  But I should only be able to get a temporary one,
and that based on any feedback I receive here :-)

  Problem is, matplotlib bundles stix fonts 1.0, and
fedora, since fedora 18 ships stix fonts 1.1, that are
not "really" compatible with 1.0.

  I got things working for Fedora 18 by using
"USE_FONTCONFIG = True", but, every other distro,
probably sans Fedora spins bundles fonts and does
not use fontconfig.

  From fedora 18 to 20 several updates were made to
fix side effects of using fontconfig, then, ultimately,
fedora 20 was shipped with my patch to use fontconfig
removed, because the patch was (apparently) upstreamed
95% workarounds to side effects of using fontconfig, but
the change to use fontconfig removed by mistake... So,
there is also a kind of chicken and egg problem, no
bundling policy, and no patching (or as few as possible and
with a good reason) policy.

  I would like to have any suggestion of a very good
reason to bundle stix fonts, or, some idea of how to
handle it, if matplotlib cannot use fontconfig by default
on Linux and *BSD.

Thanks,
Paulo