[bug #64790] [troff] use default value zero for ligatures and kerning in nroff mode

[G. Branden Robinson]

Update of bug #64790 (project groff):

                  Status:                    None => Rejected               
             Assigned to:                    None => gbranden               

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Follow-up Comment #1:


[comment #0 original submission:]
> Subject: [troff] use default value zero for ligatures and kerning in
> nroff mode
> 
>   Currently both "global_ligature_mode" and "global_kerning_mode" (in
> src/roff/troff/node.cpp) are set to the value one (1, true) for both
> nroff and troff mode.
> 
>   But in nroff mode the fonts do neither have ligatures nor kerning
> data,
> so the software is executing code, that in effect changes nothing,
> but uses energy for nothing.
> 
>   The forgoing variables should therefore be initialised to zero
> (0, false) in nroff mode.
> 
>   Also add a warning when ligature or kerning is asked for when in
> nroff mode.

I don't think these are good ideas.  Generally, typesetter-specific features
are silently ignored for nroff-mode devices.  (One day, when I recast the
"typesetters/terminals/troff mode/nroff mode" node of our Texinfo manual, I'll
cover this more explicitly.)

Similarly, escape sequences that change the font slant or height are ignored
in nroff mode; they don't produce diagnostic messages.

My impression is that this was a deliberate design choice to keep document
authors from having to lard their documents with `if n` and `if t` conditional
requests except where necessary.

Closing as rejected.


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