# Next Steps for Linux Libertine in Debian

In this document, whenever OpenType file is mentioned, we mean a file
with PostScript/cubic Bézier splines.


## Suply of OpenType vs. TrueType fonts

Do we really *need* to ship fonts as TrueType instead of OpenType?

An OTF can be smaller than the equivalent TrueType font (fewer splines
may be needed to represent the font) and may work better with engines
that understand them.

In an operating system like Debian, we probably don't need to be bound
to legacy technologies after we have a stable version released that
supports well the technology (and, in fact, fontconfig has worked well
for quite some time).

If we *do* need the TT version of the fonts, we should provide an
upgrade path to the OT version. This, in particular, makes many things
obsolete:

* We don't have to deal with nasty patching of the fonts like done to
  address bug #523186 and be confused with the fonts having or not the
  "O" at the end of the name: the TT version won't have this suffix,
  while the OT version will, keeping closer in spirit what upstream
  does.

* The "fixing" of bug #523186 leads to bugs like #578141. If we have
  real OT fonts with their intended names, we can drop aliases like
  debian/local/linux-libertine.conf does.

* Providing two packages (called {otf,ttf}-linux-libertine) may be a
  good short-term solution.


# Fidelity to upstream's desire

Whenever we can (and, in most cases, we can, regarding fonts), we should
be true to what upstream says and avoid rebuilding the fonts. From
upstream's INSTALL.txt file:

,----
| If you have not a certain reason to compile the fonts yourself, we
| recommend you to download the respective "LinLibertineFont" archive
| from our website: linuxlibertine.sf.net
`----


----

Rogério Brito
