Re: [ft-devel] Something in 2.6.4 broke my windows

[Werner LEMBERG]

>> It only *returns* the font configuration, as far as I know; it
>> *does not set* font configuration parameters.
>  
> It does set font configuration parameters.

No, it does not.

> Just grep'ed through /etc/fonts/conf.d/* , fontconfig allows one to
> switching hinting on/off per font, as well as disabling the use of
> embedded bitmaps, again, per font.

I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how fontconfig
works.  This library is only used to find a best matching font for a
given set of constraints.  Essentially, it returns a string that holds
a font's file name, together with auxiliary information the
application might find useful.  However, it is the application's job
then to process this font name with a call to `FT_Open_Face'!  In
other words, fontconfig has *zero* control how the application loads
the font.  It just provides a suggestion, nothing more.

The `switch hinting on/off' configuration and similar parameters in
fontconfig influence the auxiliary information returned together with
the matching font, nothing more.  Again, it's the application's job to
adhere to this data while calling `FT_Open_Face'.

[The situation would be different if fontconfig returned an `FT_Face'
 data structure: then you could use this library for system-wide font
 configuration.]


    Werner