grub2-dev: Introduction

1 
1 10.1 Introduction
1 =================
1 
1 The goal of this format is to provide a bitmap font format that is
1 simple to use, compact, and cleanly supports Unicode.
1 
1 10.1.1 Goals of the GRUB Font Format
1 ------------------------------------
1 
1    * Simple to read and use.  Since GRUB will only be reading the font
1      files, we are more concerned with making the code to read the font
1      simple than we are with writing the font.
1 
1    * Compact storage.  The fonts will generally be stored in a small
1      boot partition where GRUB is located, and this may be on a
1      removable storage device such as a CD or USB flash drive where
1      space is more limited than it is on most hard drives.
1 
1    * Unicode.  GRUB should not have to deal with multiple character
1      encodings.  The font should always use Unicode character codes for
1      simple internationalization.
1 
1 10.1.2 Why Another Font Format?
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1 
1 There are many existing bitmap font formats that GRUB could use.
1 However, there are aspects of these formats that may make them less than
1 suitable for use in GRUB at this time:
1 
1 'BDF'
1      Inefficient storage; uses ASCII to describe properties and
1      hexadecimal numbers in ASCII for the bitmap rows.
1 'PCF'
1      Many format variations such as byte order and bitmap padding (rows
1      padded to byte, word, etc.)  would result in more complex code to
1      handle the font format.
1