Jason Knight I don't think that Linux distros are the problem here, though. It's more a problem of the configuration, how the packages were compiled. I use Gentoo, so i decide what I want in them, but often, certain flags are omitted, because of patents and licenses and unfree code. A sad reality! It's the same for most other stuff. video quality is really good, if you select the right software with the right config. Audio latency is extremely low with JACK, however you usually get PulseAudio, which was not made for studio-quality audio processing. I can see why you have a lot of trouble, and I can see why the Linux folks want to have a tinker-y system. It all has its pros and cons. Imho, a Linux Distro can be a damn fine desktop OS, but usually it is not, because the Distro you selected has a different audience or maintainers with different ideas of how things should work.
Here are some positive examples of how well a Linux can work: Android is Linux. It powers most mobile devices and does a damn fine job, even with the energy consumption. Clear Linux (by Intel) is a power horse. If you ever need performance and nothing else matters, that's the way to go. KaOS is a quite unknown, Neon-like distro, which is user-oriented, pleasant and out-of-the-way, keeping your weak 2010 laptop kicking.
Yeah, I know, I try to defend something which I don't really have to. A Linux distro might not be the right OS for you, if you do not like to tinker and prefer to use Wine anyway. Anything Linux is always a mixed bag and might present problems, which stem from some small package you wouldn't even think is involved with your software. It can be very tedious. I like how solveing a problem is rewarding, though, so for me, a Linux distro usually is a rather positive experience.
... and apologies for the drift -- don't know how people feel 'bout that round her
well, why not? It's always nice to talk about stuff, and we still don't really have a chat system or OT corner. Also, we are not annoying anyone with our replies :D Well, we might need something like that. I will talk to the Hashnode Team and see what we can get.
Marco Alka
Software Engineer, Technical Consultant & Mentor
What you want to do is query for system fonts. With pure JS, that's not possible.
What you can do is check if a font exists. You can do so by
If the screenshot is not blank and has changed pixels, the font exists. You could make a list of fonts you want to include in the list and check for them that way. Check out my reference implementation!
Other than that, you could use a Flash or Java program, which most likely will not run anyway because of security considerations in modern browsers.
The simplest option, however, would be to just provide a set of fonts yourself. Make sure to check the licenses first, though!