Re: About rendering ascii code in a .txt medium

Ilmari, you went from the specifics to the generics. Let me try to address the
big picture first and then address the specifics.

Definition: ascii art (in my view) is using ascii code to make pictures. PERIOD.

Comment #1: One is free to use any of the myriads of media that support ascii,
e.g. the .txt medium and a myriad others. I myself like to render ascii code
in a variety of media and explore the capabilities of the various media, such
as animation and inter-activity. And all that is ascii art, e.g. we have a
newsgroup with the name alt.ascii-art.animation

Comment #2: One is also free to use any typographical settings such as
proportional and non-proportional font, e.g. Arial based pics are ascii art
pieces with this specific typographical setting (the Arial font.)

(Please note in the above definition and comments, that there are NO reproductions.)

(Please note in the above definition and comments, that different media have
different capabilities.)

Now, having said that, I realize that most people on this newsgroup tend to
limit ascii art to just one medium, the .txt medium, and to just one
typographical setting, the non-proportional font. 

It is for this reason, that I have said things like "the ascii community
behaves in a self-limiting way" not because I want to insult the ascii
community, but because the ascii standard itself allows for vastly greater
freedom in the choice of media and in the choice of typographical settings.

I also realize, why the ascii community is behaving in such a self-limiting
way, and that reason is what you called portability. Let's try to guestimate
the portability of the .txt/non-proportional combination. aol has about 10% of
the Internet users, and another 10% of Internet users have proportional in
their email and newsgroup software. That means that the portability of the
.txt/non-proportional combination is a high 80%. 

Now, let's try to guestimate the portability of the .html/non-proportional
combination. The portability here is determined by email and newsgroup
software being html aware, say, a low 20%.

(Of course one can argue about the exact percentages.)

Since:

=> the world is becoming increasingly proportional;
=> the .txt/non-proportional combination offering no protection to ascii pics;
=> the .html/non-proportional combination do offer protection to ascii pics; 

the upshot is:

=> the high portability of the .txt/non-proportional combination will decline
over time
=> the low portability of the .html/non-proportional combination will improve
over time

The cross-over point of the above two portability curves will happen probably
not earlier than several years from now on, although the trends are quite clear.

On the "universal font" issue itself, I am not an expert, as I said in a
previous posting (and quite frankly, I don't think that you are an expert on
this issue either.) But perhaps I can share the following little story and
subsequent deliberations, and we can perhaps move the yardstick together.

I have on my website little movies with captions, and naturally, I want the
captions to be as legible as possible. The most legible font on each computing
platform is probably the system font, since you as the computer user are the
most familiar with it, you see it so often. Some of my newer movies in Java
and Shockwave (the media that allow for inter-activity) therefore detect the
computing platform that you are using, and display the captions in the system
font that is native to your computer. (This is basically the same idea that
multi-platform professionals use with their font substitution maps.)

The key point that I want to convey with the above little story, is that
"universal font" solutions do not have to be brute force "must have identical
font installed in all systems in the whole wide world" kind of solutions.
These solutions can be smart "use adequate fonts that you already have on your
system" kind of solutions. These solutions can include non-proportional AND
proportional fonts.

Now, how portable are these solutions? Well, that's what I don't know, this is
a new area and I won't even risk a guestimate. Anyone want to risk a guestimate?

Since I have left the .html medium behind me, I am not really up to date on
style sheets and other typographical tools for general usage. I do know that
the web design community needs them for general usage and with maximum
portability in mind, i.e. to reach the largest possible audience.

In any case, the ascii community really only needs a rather small subset of
those tools and can easily piggyback on the general development trends and use
those tools as they become widely available.

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