Introducing Cobra

[Ralph Shumaker]

SJS wrote:
> The eye *believes* whitespace, but it's also not very good at it.  It's
> okay at determining that yeah, verily, there *is* whitespace, but it's
> not very good at determining how much.  For very small programs, that's
> okay; but these languages are no longer being used solely for small programs.
>   

I never understood why spaces and tabs cannot be displayed with 
something visible.  Just as an example, a regular space could be 
displayed something like the underscore _ but perhaps shorter, a little 
higher, and maybe with an uptick in the middle of it (to distinguish it 
from the underscore and the dash).  Tabs could be displayed the same 
way, but stretching over however many spaces they cover and having the 
uptick only in the middle (if that's even possible).  (I seem to recall 
being able to something remotely similar to this on my Amiga computer.)  
I like when the 0 (zero) is made distinctive with a dot in the middle.  
I never liked that 0 looks so similar to O and in some places are almost 
indistinguishable from one another.  The 1 and the l (and sometimes I) 
are almost as bad.  There is no reason why they have to look that much 
alike.  I never liked that tabs and spaces look even *more* alike than 
that.  I have to run my cursor over them one step at a time to tell the 
difference.  I can't even tell by just looking.

Come to think of it, does anyone know how I can modify the fonts that 
show up in gnome terminal and vim, and even the console while I'm at it, 
and any other fonts that are used by programs like firefox and 
thunderbird?  Come to think of it, I can't be the only one who has ever 
wanted such a thing.  Is anyone aware of fonts already so modified?



-- 
Ralph

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The most arduous task a reformer has to execute, is to make people think; to rouse them from that lethargy, which, like the mantle of sleep, covers them in repose and contentment.
--Noah Webster, 1789