this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
13 points (93.3% liked)

Linux

8043 readers
78 users here now

Welcome to c/linux!

Welcome to our thriving Linux community! Whether you're a seasoned Linux enthusiast or just starting your journey, we're excited to have you here. Explore, learn, and collaborate with like-minded individuals who share a passion for open-source software and the endless possibilities it offers. Together, let's dive into the world of Linux and embrace the power of freedom, customization, and innovation. Enjoy your stay and feel free to join the vibrant discussions that await you!

Rules:

  1. Stay on topic: Posts and discussions should be related to Linux, open source software, and related technologies.

  2. Be respectful: Treat fellow community members with respect and courtesy.

  3. Quality over quantity: Share informative and thought-provoking content.

  4. No spam or self-promotion: Avoid excessive self-promotion or spamming.

  5. No NSFW adult content

  6. Follow general lemmy guidelines.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
13
State of Font Rendering on Linux (social.packetloss.gg)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
5 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hi folks,

I was wondering what people's thoughts are on the state of font rendering on Linux and if there are any important settings/packages I might not be aware of.

I've never been particularly font sensitive. So despite being a long time user at this point... I'm still a Linux fonts noob. However, I know a lot of people are big into fonts.

I recently installed Debian KDE as a desktop for my father. He likes it, but he wasn't crazy about the fonts. We turned the normal subpixel rendering on in KDE Font settings, but some pages definitely had blocky looking fonts (e.g. the Yahoo home page my dad still uses ๐Ÿ™ƒ).

Any tips? The documentation in this area seems to be lacking... and maybe it's just the resolution of the mintors and things (my dad had gotten used to his high resolution phone so jumping back to a 28" 1080p monitor is going to look blocky no matter what). Regardless, if there are any tips or things I might have missed, they'd be much appreciated!

top 5 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Blocky fonts could just be Yahoo falling back to older fonts as it finds the Windows/MacOS fonts not installed on the local system. The easiest thing you could do to verify this is install the mscorefonts (the way to install it changes every few years, so you'll need to search it).

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You probably don't need the ms core fonts exactly, as long as there are compatible replacements installed. But that's a simple enough starting point, agreed.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Correct, the mscorefonts may be a little overkill, but it would be the quickest solution. My guess is that Debian's default fonts "aren't up to par", so they could also download and install other fonts and use them as the default san-serif font, but unless they got lucky it could take longer than just installing the fonts their father knows and loves.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You can use this font.conf to improve your font rendering: https://gist.github.com/AhmedMostafa16/e2ee6661899f405781dbce54ae231158

Save it to ~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf. Then install all the font packages mentioned in the comments. Finally, run fc-cache and/or reboot your system to apply the changes.

Note that this isn't a magical fix, you may still need to tweak the hinting/aliasing/subpixel rendering etc based on your monitor, resolution, DPI, and personal preference. Check out this page for more details on how to tweak this + some troubleshooting tips: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/font_configuration

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Wow, that's a lot of tweaks!