It's not a ligature. It's not even a variant anymore. Yes, in orthography it's defined in contrast to "ss" but it is not acceptable to substitute "ss" for "ß" i

It's not a ligature. It's not even a variant anymore. Yes, in orthography it's defined in contrast to "ss" but it is not acceptable to substitute "ss" for "ß" in names. Mesner, Messner, Meßner and Meszner are different names. Typography is not just about making pretty shapes that work nice alongside each other.