#139 XeTeX does not handle WOFF files

[Anonymous]

XeTeX/xdvipdfmx does not handle fontconfig returning a WOFF font file as mentioned at [1]. Debian has stated this is a XeTeX problem [2]. Jonathan Kew disagrees [3] but might take steps in XeTeX to solve the problem anyway. If Jonathan (or others) can convince Debian of his position, then no change to XeTeX/xdvipdfmx is needed. If Debian does not change, can a fix be made for XeTeX/xdvipdfmx?

Bobby de Vos

[1] https://www.tug.org/pipermail/xetex/2017-April/027063.html
[2] https://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/pkg-fonts-devel/2017-April/019338.html
[3] https://www.tug.org/pipermail/xetex/2017-April/027069.html

[Anonymous]

It may be better to change the fontconfig configuration not to look in directories containing WOFF files. This possibility was suggested in the Debian Pkg-fonts-devel mailing list at

https://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/pkg-fonts-devel/2017-May/019459.html

Bobby

[Anonymous]

To further the disscussion with Debian I filed a bug at https://bugs.debian.org/861938
Any thoughts?

Bobby

[Anonymous]

I think this bug will now be fixed by changing fontconfig, no change to XeTeX is needed.
https://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/pkg-fonts-devel/2017-May/019589.html

[Anonymous]

I talked with Keith Packard, the author of fontconfig while at DebConf, and he suggested

• FreeType should be enhanced to so it can tell fontconfig which fonts are in WOFF containers, and prioritize TrueType before WOFF.
• If a Debian package ships a TrueType file, do not place the WOFF file where fontconfig can find it.
• Upgrade xdvipdfmx so that it can read a WOFF, strip off the header, and uncompress the TrueType data. He thinks some font designers may only release WOFF, so applications need to be able to handle WOFF.

[Jonathan Kew]

I'd be surprised if designers were to release fonts only in WOFF form, unless those fonts are specifically licensed only for webfont use, given the explicitly stated purpose of the WOFF format.

(FWIW, my inclination here, if/when I find time to work on it, is still to modify XeTeX so as to ignore WOFF files returned by fontconfig.)