TrueType fonts, TeX etc.

[Anshuman Pandey]

On Mon, 2 Mar 1998, John Smith wrote:

> Post-1990 TeX has what is without doubt the best approach to the use of
> special character sets available in any major system: virtual fonts. A
> virtual font is a layer of software that "tames" a raw font and makes it
> act as the user wishes. In use it "feels" just like a real font. Among the
> advantages of this approach are that one can make virtual fonts
> implementing special character sets for any real font one chooses: there
> are no copyright hassles. There is a big collection of virtual fonts
> implementing CSX for a wide range of underlying real fonts -- both
> Computer Modern and PostScript -- available at the website given below:
> follow the "fonts" link, then "csx-fonts" and finally "TeX".

Yes, emTeX does support virtual fonts, however, some of the filenames of
John's CSX virtual fonts exceed the allowable 8 + 3 filename convention of
DOS. I was going to rename the files so that they may be used with emTeX
but never got around to doing it. John, any new ideas yet?

For those interested in coupling TeX with Indology, there's a wealth of
software available. (The December issue of Tugboat (journal of the TeX
Users' Group) *should* have an article called "Typesetting Indic Fonts in
TeX" which summarizes the various packages available for use with TeX.) As
of now, every major Indic script can be easily typeset in TeX. Most of
these scripts are supported by ITRANS; information about which can be had
from <http://www.paranoia.com/~avinash/itrans/>. Also, many other Indic
TeX packages are available from the INDOLOGY file server.

Additionally, the thesis style sheets for many universities are available
for TeX, as are numerous other useful styles for letters, vitas, articles,
etc. All one has to do is browse the catalogue of the Comprehensive TeX
Archive Network. For those wishing an introduction to TeX, LaTeX,
METAFONT, etc. the following files are of great help:

A Short Introduction to LaTeX 2e   info/lshort/lshort2e.600.ps
The New TeX FAQ (letter)           help/uktug-FAQ/letterfaq.ps
                (a4)               help/uktug-FAQ/newfaq.ps

also,

A Gentle Introduction to TeX       info/gentle.tex
Setting up emTeX                   info/jrtex12a
Introduction to TeX                info/maltby-intro.tex
Metafont for Beginners             info/metafont-for-beginners.tex

these are all available from either ftp.tex.ac.uk or ftp.dante.de in the
respective directories indicated above.

Also, the "LaTeX Companion" by Michel Goosens, et al. (published by
Addison Wesley) is a wonderful "manual" for getting to know TeX and
friends.

That's enough for a digression... back to the Aryans!

Regards,
Anshuman Pandey