Comment 2 for bug 171719

Fredp if I understood you correctly you can work around it by using Alt >

In Text tool Alt + > is a shortcut for kerning the letter spacing between all the selected letters.
For example:
Draw circle
Write text shorter/longer than circles perimeter
Put text on circle
Select text with the Text tool and select all letters (Ctrl a)
Use Alt > (or Alt < if the text is longer) until the letters are uniquely spread around the whole circle perimeter

This way you can even change the font size and other font properties as you don't need to convert it to a path.