Fixed font v multiple fonts

[Brian E Carpenter]

"Hallam-Baker, Phillip" wrote:
...
> 2.2
> 
> This section should address the fact that IETF documents are poorly
> formatted in a fixed width font making them VERY hard to read. They look
> like a second rate piece of work and many engineers will avoid IETF process
> for that reason alone.

Well, I'm currently working both in the IETF (one fixed width font) and
in the GGF (as many variable fonts as you want). I find IETF documents
substantially easier to deal with. They are much smaller, which is an
immense advantage when you are on the road or on a lousy hotel wireless
network. They are much easier to discuss on mailing lists by trivial cut 
and paste. Even the diagrams can easily be cut, pasted, and updated. 

Against this is is the lack of italics or shading to distinguish symbols
and examples from text; that is certainly an advantage in GGF documents.

There may be some arguments for having the final product look pretty,
by use of multiple fonts and artistic diagrams. But in my experience,
using these techniques in documents under development is a problem
in itself.

    Brian