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
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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