Hoary fonts

[thully at umich.edu]

Hello,

I have a few suggestions with regards to the font defaults in Hoary.  I tend
to be a nitpicker with fonts, so be forewarned.

First of all, autohinter is currently disabled by default in
/etc/fonts/local.conf.  Could this be enabled for Latin-script fonts?  I have a
feeling that the vast majority of users would find that autohinter makes fonts
look much better.

Secondly, in Firefox I've found that serif fonts are used excessively where sans
serif fonts should be used, and where sans serif fonts would look much better
(one example of this is on Slashdot).  Could defaults be changed to use sans
serif fonts, as opposed to serif fonts, in instances where Arial/Helvetica are
requested (as is the case on Slashdot)?  I find Bitstream Vera Sans looks much
better than the serif font (don't know which one) Firefox tends to use on
Slashdot.


What's everybody's thoughts on this?

Tim Hull
thully at umich.edu