[Pkg-fonts-devel] [debian-devel:18177] Re: MBF: fonts-*-gothic: fonts-japanese-* is not registered as virtual package

[Norbert Preining]

Hi all,

On Mi, 25 Jan 2012, Osamu Aoki wrote:
> > TeXLive (>= 2011) already uses "updmap-sys" for Japanese font
> > configuration. Thus fonts-japanese-* will be not needed if TeXLive
> > packages are updated.
> 
> Good and bad.  We still have texlive from 2009 in Debian.  Not even
> 2010.  As I see BTS, it looks like this is very difficult time.

First, using updmap-sys for font configuration of Japanese fonts
needs a carefully written map file.
Second, this is very much work-in-progress in upstream. I am currently
handling my private tlptexlive repository for TeX Live tlmgr that
provides enhanced support for Japanese TeX, including updated
binaries for several arch, plus uptex, etc etc. THese things will
all be moved into the main TeX Live 2012 when we freeze TL for
the 2012 release.

So, bottom lines, with TL 2012 there will be hopefully even better
support for Japanese fonts.

(up to now upstream dev head on)

(form now on Debian hat on)

But for getting things into debian it is not simply compile/copy/drop/forget,
(like other distributions are doing, and failing, see tldistro mailing 
list or texlive mainling list for complains, bug reports). THe integration
is a *real pain*, because we have to take care for many packages, 
many config files, changes to many config files.

All those people crying at me could have started helping: For example,
there is a patched version of updmap (shell script) in Debian that
does several Debina specific things. Now upstream uses a perl script,
and TL2012 will bring et another perl script. But nobody has stepped
forward to port the changes from the shell script to the perl script.

Nobody has stepped forward to take a look at the test packages I have
provided some time ago. If everyone wants to have an up2date TL and is
only complaining, then it will not improve.

Anyway, I don't actually know what the problem of the original post is,
but I see that Japanese support in Debian is quite a pain. The fonts
that are selected are sooo arbitrary, depending on what is installed.
And even if nice fonts are installed often rubbish fonts are shown.
That might be a fontconfig problem, but it does not help. 

To come back to upstream Japanese Font support: I don't think *any* of
the packages currently provided in Debian will be useable for TeX
unless someone steps forward and makes a decent map file. For example
the IPAex fonts as packaged in TeX Live (upstream, 2011+) have an
accompanying map file for dvipdfmx that can be used with the @kanjiEmbed@
trick in updmap.cfg. For other fonts like Hiragino, Morisawa, Kozuka,
there are font maps written and included in TL, but you have to get the
fonts.

> This task seems to much for Norbert Preining <preining at logic.at> and
> Frank Küster <frank at debian.org>.  Can we expect TeXLive 2011 for wheezy?

No need to add email adr into text, but anyway.

I don't know *when* I find time to package TL for Debian. It will
happen eventually. If someone steps forward and helps instead of talking
it might happen faster. For wheezy I don't know, it is due to be released
in June or so, I am not sure we make it.

Best wishes

Norbert
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Norbert Preining            preining@{jaist.ac.jp, logic.at, debian.org}
JAIST, Japan                                 TeX Live & Debian Developer
DSA: 0x09C5B094   fp: 14DF 2E6C 0307 BE6D AD76  A9C0 D2BF 4AA3 09C5 B094
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