GNU bug report logs - #28338
25.2; Default fonts for Info

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From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 28338 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#28338: 25.2; Default fonts for Info
Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2017 10:26:41 -0700 (PDT)

> > (I saw no discussion of it.)
> 
> That doesn't mean there were none.  See, for example, bug#18077,
> bug#19889, bug#22207, and bug#24597.

emacs-devel is a better place for proposals to change default
behavior and discussions thereof.

> > I suggest that Courier New should be the default font for
> > that face (as well as be the general default).
> 
> That would make it indistinguishable from the default face, so it's a
> non-starter.

1. No, it would not, if you give it a different color instead
   of a different font.  You seem stubborn about hearing this.
   Changing the font is not the only way to make text stand out.

2. In the past Emacs has had cases where a face intentionally
   had exactly the same default appearance as the default face
   - nothing distinguishable at all.  Clearly that (misguided)
   choice was not a "non-starter" then.

   (In fact, I was among those who pointed out more than once
   that such a default face appearance was not a good idea.
   But for quite a while suggestions to make such faces look
   different by default were (ironically), themselves,
   "non-starters".)

My suggestion is _not_ to use exactly the same face as the
default face - I've made that quite clear.  My suggestion
is to not use a different font.  Using a different color
(whatever color) is a reasonable alternative.

In the past, Emacs (unwisely) used bold, but with the same
font, by default, here and there.  We pointed out that bold
does not render well for some platforms, in particular, for
MS Windows (with the default font).

Using bold was one approach (bad).  Using a different font
is another approach (bad - this bug).  Using a different
color is another approach (pretty good, IMHO).

You propose a color.  Almost any color would do, as long
as it is sufficiently different from the background color.

Users should (preferably) be able to notice it (i.e., not
the default foreground color, which you apparently agree
with), so that they can tell that it is something they can
customize it.

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