[webkit-dev] Proposal: Remove ENABLE(MATHML)

[Konstantin Tokarev]

23.10.2017, 19:11, "Frédéric WANG" <fred.wang at free.fr>:
> On 23/10/2017 18:04, Konstantin Tokarev wrote:
>>  There is a big difference between SVG and MathML: the first one is entirely self-
>>  contained, while (AFAIU) MathML requires presence of math fonts on the target
>>  system for correct rendering (i.e. native MathML will look much worse than image
>>  fallback that is usually available).
>>
>>  Imagine embedded system (e.g. of set-top box kind) which has no math fonts on
>>  the board. Will always-on MathML be progression or regression there?
>
> SVG also requires fonts for the <text> tag.

Yes, but only general-purpose fonts, not math-specific.
Also, if text is rendered with a different font face (because system lacks requested font)
it's remains readable.

> And Web fonts exist to work around the lack of system fonts.

Yes, but what if web developer is not careful enough and assumes that if mathml is present,
then math font is available?

> As a Web Platform developer, I believe browser sniffing is bad practice, so I hope people
> use other techniques to provide alternate content.

What do you mean under "browser sniffing"? UA string sniffing is a shame, certainly.
But feature testing (e.g. by checking size of <mspace>) is a valid appoach.

-- 
Regards,
Konstantin