F36 Change: Malayalam Default Fonts Update (Self-Contained Change proposal)
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/MalayalamDefaultFontsUpdate
== Summary ==
This change will update existing default Malayalam fonts and also
rename to new upstream source, which brings improved text shaping,
better glyphs for readability, Unicode 13 support, Appstream data
amongst other improvements.
== Owner ==
* Name: [[User:Rajeeshknambiar |Rajeesh K V]], [[User:Pnemade| Parag Nemade]]
* Email: <rajeeshknambiar(a)fedoraproject.org>, <pnemade(a)redhat.com>
== Detailed Description ==
Till Fedora 35, Meera (`smc-meera-fonts`) and Rachana
(`smc-rachana-fonts`) fonts were default sans-serif and serif fonts
for Malayalam script/language. From Fedora 36, these are obsolete by
Meera New (`rit-meera-new-fonts`) and RIT Rachana
(`rit-rachana-fonts`) respectively.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Style!! F35 Fontname!! F36 Fontname
|-
| Sans-Serif || Meera || Meera New
|-
| Serif || Rachana || RIT Rachana
|}
A new collection of Malayalam fonts suited for various publishing work
is also introduced.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Fontname!! Uasge
|-
| Sundar || Display/title font
|-
| TN Joy || Display/title font
|-
| Ezhuthu || Script/cursive/handwriting style font
|-
| Panmana || Body text font
|}
== Benefit to Fedora ==
Enhance the experience of Fedora for Malayalam users by improving font
rendering quality, flawless OpenType shaping and improved glyph
shapes, with Unicode 13.0 support. All fonts also contain supporting
metadata such as AppStream.
Major improvements brought by the new Malayalam fonts include:
# Redrawn glyph shapes for better readability and font metrics.<ref>KH
Hussain et al., Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam
fonts, https://tug.org/TUGboat/tb41-2/tb128hussain-beyond.pdf</ref>
# Regular, Bold, Italic and BoldItalic variants for many fonts; most
variants are not present in older fonts.
# Consistent, flawless OpenType text shaping: redesigned OTL rules
fixes all longstanding shaping issues.<ref>KV Rajeesh, A new set of
OpenType shaping rules for Malaylam,
https://rajeeshknambiar.wordpress.com/2021/09/20/a-new-set-of-opentype-sh...
# Various fonts designed for different purposes of
typesetting/publishing/design work (body text, display/title,
informal/cursive fonts).
# Fonts containing more than 900 glyphs for ‘comprehensive character
set’ for Malayalam script; and fonts with ‘limited character set’
having lesser conjuncts suited for title text.
# Unicode 13.0 support in many fonts, with archaic characters suited
for reproducing historical text/scriptures.
# AppStream metadata which provides preview of the font in software
installers like GNOME Software and Discover
# Previous upstream (SMC) has stopped maintaining default fonts in
Fedora. New upstream (RIT) is actively maintaining the fonts.
# Notable differences with Noto {Sans,Serif} Malayalam fonts are the
‘reformed’ script which contains very less conjunct characters, while
all RIT fonts are ‘traditional’ script fonts. The ex-height and
em-size of RIT fonts are more suitable for reading/composing long
Malayalam text on web/print.
== Scope ==
* Proposal owners:
# Add new packages `rit-meera-new-fonts` and `rit-rachana-fonts`
# update `langpacks` package for these font packages
# update `fedora-comps` to install these new Malayalam fonts by default
* Other developers: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
* Release engineering: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
* Policies and guidelines: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
* Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)
== Upgrade/compatibility impact ==
N/A (not a System Wide Change)
== How To Test ==
* Check Malayalam web sites which uses both Malayalam Sans and Serif fonts
* Use LibreOffice, use Sans and Serif fonts to see if it uses different fonts
* also check the output of following commands giving new package names
** LANG=ml_IN.UTF-8 fc-match sans-serif:lang=ml
** LANG=ml_IN.UTF-8 fc-match serif:lang=ml
== User Experience ==
* With good quality Malayalam Sans and Serif fonts, the Desktop or Web Browser
will display with both Sans and Serif fonts.
* With different Sans and Serif fonts, the Workstation will have better
font rendering quality.
== Dependencies ==
N/A (not a System Wide Change)
== Contingency Plan ==
Revert to use older Malayalam fonts.
* Contingency mechanism: (What to do? Who will do it?) N/A (not a
System Wide Change)
* Contingency deadline: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
* Blocks release? N/A (not a System Wide Change), No
* Blocks product? No
== Documentation ==
* [https://gitlab.com/rit-fonts/MeeraNew Sans font]
* [https://gitlab.com/rit-fonts/RIT-Rachana Serif font]
== Release Notes ==
By using both Malayalam Sans and Serif fonts, the Workstation will
improve Malayalam fonts rendering quality and better OpenType shaping
for users.
--
Ben Cotton
He / Him / His
Fedora Program Manager
Red Hat
TZ=America/Indiana/Indianapolis