12 ms·

Much good there but l and 1 are identical.

vmladenov 2y ago
Not quite, the 1's top serif extends to the left edge. https://postimg.cc/nXMt2qhx https://postimg.cc/nXMt2qhx Still way too close for comfort.
mroche 2y ago
I'm really surprised this made it through, it's one of the handful of character sets that require distinct glyphs to prevent confusion/mixups.
queuebert 2y ago
To be fair, they did say it was inspired by typewriters, and most old typewriters don't have a '1', so you type a lowercase 'l' instead.
- irundebian 2y ago
  That are really old typewriters.
  - fsckboy 2y ago
    not really, in the sense that it would be a really old typewriter, there aren't any new typewriters. I'm not super old, and typewriters I used in high school did not have a one. Nobody had an IBM Selectric at home. BTW on the same subject of fonts, you want to be able to distinguish between 1, l, and I which are not always distinguishable.
    - irundebian 2y ago
      I just googled for some typewriter pictures and only really old typewriters didn't have a "1".
  - pwg 2y ago
    Actually, it was /most/ typewriters. Having a numeral one (1) key on a keyboard was something brought about by computer input keyboards (where there did, indeed, need to be a distinct numeral one separate from lower case-ell (l)). But for most typewriters, the ell (l) key also served as the numeral one key.
- amelius 2y ago
  Then don't call it "server". Call it "typewriter".
- rjmorris 2y ago
  How did they type '2' on those old typewriters?
  - hoppyhoppy2 2y ago
    There was a "2" key, just no "1" key on some models.
TacticalCoder 2y ago
Yeah it's annoying in several fonts, not just that one. So I simply modify the font I'm using: one thing I do is I remove the lower left horizontal bar from lowercase 'l', that way it cannot be mistaken from a '1'. Basically changing what's on the left to what's on the right: *** *** * * * * * * ***** *** It's a little trick I've been using since so long I don't even remember since when I'm doing that.
- m463 2y ago
  > I simply modify the font I'm using One of those minor nudges in life... EDIT: and also a monospaced comment on hn to describe it :)
- awelotta 2y ago
  Do you use [ttx](https://fonttools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ttx.html https://fonttools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ttx.html) for this?
ezekg 2y ago
Love the zero, but agreed.
seanmcdirmid 2y ago
I use proportional fonts for coding that don’t really distinguish between 1 and l, it doesn’t seem to matter in practice.
m463 2y ago
yeah ibm's courier has a horizontal top line for 'l' and a slanted top line for '1'

Not quite, the 1's top serif extends to the left edge. https://postimg.cc/nXMt2qhx https://postimg.cc/nXMt2qhx Still way too close for comfort.

mroche 2y ago

I'm really surprised this made it through, it's one of the handful of character sets that require distinct glyphs to prevent confusion/mixups.

queuebert 2y ago

To be fair, they did say it was inspired by typewriters, and most old typewriters don't have a '1', so you type a lowercase 'l' instead.

irundebian 2y ago
That are really old typewriters.
- fsckboy 2y ago
  not really, in the sense that it would be a really old typewriter, there aren't any new typewriters. I'm not super old, and typewriters I used in high school did not have a one. Nobody had an IBM Selectric at home. BTW on the same subject of fonts, you want to be able to distinguish between 1, l, and I which are not always distinguishable.
  - irundebian 2y ago
    I just googled for some typewriter pictures and only really old typewriters didn't have a "1".
- pwg 2y ago
  Actually, it was /most/ typewriters. Having a numeral one (1) key on a keyboard was something brought about by computer input keyboards (where there did, indeed, need to be a distinct numeral one separate from lower case-ell (l)). But for most typewriters, the ell (l) key also served as the numeral one key.
amelius 2y ago
Then don't call it "server". Call it "typewriter".
rjmorris 2y ago
How did they type '2' on those old typewriters?
- hoppyhoppy2 2y ago
  There was a "2" key, just no "1" key on some models.

TacticalCoder 2y ago

Yeah it's annoying in several fonts, not just that one. So I simply modify the font I'm using: one thing I do is I remove the lower left horizontal bar from lowercase 'l', that way it cannot be mistaken from a '1'. Basically changing what's on the left to what's on the right: *** *** * * * * * * ***** *** It's a little trick I've been using since so long I don't even remember since when I'm doing that.

m463 2y ago
> I simply modify the font I'm using One of those minor nudges in life... EDIT: and also a monospaced comment on hn to describe it :)
awelotta 2y ago
Do you use [ttx](https://fonttools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ttx.html https://fonttools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ttx.html) for this?

ezekg 2y ago

Love the zero, but agreed.

seanmcdirmid 2y ago

I use proportional fonts for coding that don’t really distinguish between 1 and l, it doesn’t seem to matter in practice.

m463 2y ago

yeah ibm's courier has a horizontal top line for 'l' and a slanted top line for '1'