Replace KcmFontinst with kio_fonts

[Craig Drummond]

Hi,

I’d like to propose replacing the existing KControl font installer module
with a fonts ioslave. I’ve already started hacking on this (only for a couple
of days) – but I wanted to ask if people thought that this would be a better
idea than the KControl module before I went too far. See
http://members.lycos.co.uk/cpdrummond/kfontinst-kio.png for a screenshot, and
http://members.lycos.co.uk/cpdrummond/kfontinst-kio-0.01.tar.gz for the source code as is.

When started as non-root fonts:// will list 2 directories; "Personal" (which
is in fact ~/.fonts) and "System" (usually /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts) – and
for root it would just go straight into the "System" directory. The reason for
listing both "System" and "Personal" is so that non-root users could see
what fonts were installed system-wide. However, I’m not sure if this is a good
idea or not. I'd like to be able to drag a font over one of the "System"
folders, get the slave to ask for root's password, copy file as root, and then
create the fonts.dir, etc files - but I haven't the faintest idea how to do this
easily.

The main differences to the KControl module are:

1. Fontmap is not created/modified. After thinking about this, I don’t think
that it’s relevant anymore. Most apps embed the fonts in the generated ps
output. Also, for fonts installed as a normal user – this could lead to print
previews working (where gs is run as the user, and can see his/her fonts
directory), and printed output not working (as gs is now run as root (via the
printer queue) – and no longer looks at the users fonts dir).
2. As above, the CUPS's Fontmap file is not touched.
3. StarOffice is no longer configured. OpenOffice has been out for a while
now, and is *much* better anyway.
4. AFMs are no-longer generated. These were really only of use for
StarOffice <=5.2, and for other apps when using TrueType fonts. However, I don't think
this is required. AFMs can still be installed - it's just that they will not
be generated.
5. Fonts can't be "enabled" or "disabled" - however this could be
accomplished by hiding the fonts, i.e.. naming them ".filename.ttf"

This leads to *much* less code, which should be easier to maintain - and
removes an entry from KControl. Also, it adds the ease of drag-n-drop font
installation - also allowing you to copy a file from ftp:// straight into fonts://

I'm 99.99% sure I can get this completed well in advance of the KDE3.2
timeframe - most of the work is done, there's just a few niggles left to iron out.
Also, I plan on adding a few lines to the "startkde" script to move KDE's
font dir from $KDEHOME/share/fonts to ~/.fonts

So, shall I continue with this? Or is it better to stay with the KControl
module?

Craig.

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