[Scribus] Linux Font Editor?

[John Jordan]

On 1 Oct 2005, at 0:15, Robert Memering wrote:

> I have been lecturing on phonetics and phonology at
> university in the summer term and I had no problems
> of this sort at all, because I used LaTeX (with the
> TIPA package).
> 
> I know that many people don't want to start using
> LaTeX because they think it's too difficult or
> cumbersome to use. But I think it's definitely worth
> the effort. And: after more than fifteen years it is
> still superior to professional (and expensive)
> software in many ways. IPA Symbols, for example.
> 
> Have your mouth watered by the TIPA manual (esp. by the
> specimens):
> 
> http://ftp.ktug.or.kr/tex-archive/fonts/tipa/tipaman.pdf

Robert,

Thanks for the suggestions.

First, the link above appears to be dead or lagged into sometime 
next week. All I can get is "operation timed out."

But more importantly, are the fonts in question regular OpenType 
fonts that can be used on Windows and Mac computers? I ask this 
because you have assumed that I want a solution just for myself. 
That is not the case. I do want a font that I can use for typesetting 
as well as general student linguistics work. But I also want to 
create a font that the student in "Intro to Linguistics" can use -- a 
student using Windows or Mac who barely understands how to 
install a font, let alone figure out TeX.

So if the fonts can be used only with TeX, they are not a solution 
for me.

As for TeX/LaTeX, etc., I already investigated this some time ago. I 
can ace a graduate course in Syntax (I have a 4.0 in linguistics 
classes), but TeX and all of its related programs leave me totally 
baffled. I also tried my hand at programming once. I got to the point 
of "hello world" and the rest was incomprehensible. I do not have a 
mind that can handle such matters. I need a GUI or I am dead. 
That is why I am pinning my personal DTP hopes on Scribus. 

I might be able to learn TeX if there were actual hands-on classes 
with instructors to show me step by step how to do it. But the 
online documentation is hopeless for me. I couldn't understand 
even the first sentence. I would have to ask a question online for 
each paragraph of the instructions and then wait several days for 
someone to answer it. I'd be dead before I figured it out to the level 
you have achieved. My brain is not equal to yours.