Op za 14-06-2003, om 02:33 schreef M. Kirchhoff: > Hi All, > > I've spent the last two days scouring Google and the Debian-User archives in > search of help with fonts under X (specifically, XFree86 4.2 and Fluxbox 0.1.7-3 > under Woody). In my search, I discovered that there is a lack of consistent, > up-to-date information. For example, the XFree86 Font De-uglification How-To at > TLDP (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/FDU/) proved to be the most useful, yet it > is almost eight months outdated. Most of the other guides were even older. > Even so, I read through most of them, but I'm now more confused than ever, > particularly with regard to the various font servers. Just today, however, I > discovered a post by Rob > Weir(http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2003/debian-user-200301/msg00729.html), > who notes the following: > > " > > Before starting, I should state that I "think" I am running the Xserver > > without an additional font server (ie neither xfs or xfs-xtt, not xfstt), as > > I can't quite understand why I should need it . I presume that the > > libfreetype module loaded by the x-server should suffice.[So if someone can > > explain why ought to use pne of the above font servers I would be interested > > to listen] > > AFAIK, this is correct. XFree86 4.0 introduced support for TrueType > fonts, so a font server is useless for 99% of users. If you have a > bunch of machines, it might be useful to share fonts amongst them, but > aside from that, 'no'. > " > > If it's true that font servers aren't really necessary, then what is the easiest > way to get good looking fonts simply using the XFree86 config files? > > Another problem is simply the lack of decent fonts. Most of the guides refer > users to the free Microsoft TrueType font pack; however, it seems that those > links are all dead now that Microsoft no longer offers them. When I try to do > "apt-get install msttcorefonts", I get an error message about them no longer > being available (sorry I don't my debian box handy to grab the exact error > message). Is there a font-site-to-end-all-font-sites out there somewhere? > > Font problems seem to be some of the most frustrating and difficult to deal with > in regards to Debian and GNU/Linux in general, particularly for newbies like > myself. I've heard that the latest versions of distros like RedHat and SuSe > offer great font support and goodies like anti-aliasing right out of the box, > which is great for recent converts from the Windows world, where good looking > type is a no brainer. But for newbies like me who prefer Debian > and--especially--who run older hardware and thus prefer more lightweight X > managers like Fluxbox over full environments like Gnome or KDE, it's a real pain! > > Basically, I'm in search of how-tos or any other kind of help that fills the > eight-month gap in font coverage in those older how-tos. > > Thanks to any and all help!!! > > Sincerely, > M. Kirchhoff
I use the same windowmanager as you, Fluxbox and that is, IMHO already part of the problem because it doesn't seem to have a font setup program. KDE or Gnome provides one. I find the adobe* line of fonts to be very good actually as are the misc fonts. In my XF86Config-4 file, i only specified the fontpaths and commented out the fontservers because they are pretty useless for common users as you say. Section "Files" #FontPath "unix/:7100" # local font server # if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1" FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/CID" FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo" FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc" FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic" FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi" FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi" EndSection Then i saw that my fonts weren't the way i wanted them. Some native X programs like Xterm can be manipulated by setting up an ~/.Xdefaults file where you specify your fonts. That will already make some programs use the fonts specified there. Here's my .Xdefaults file: *font: -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-13-120-75-75-c-70-iso8859-15 *VT100*font2: -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-*-70-*-*-c-*-iso8859-15 *VT100*font3: -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-*-100-*-*-c-*-iso8859-15 *VT100*font4: -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-*-120-*-*-c-*-iso8859-15 *VT100*font5: -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-*-140-*-*-c-*-iso8859-15 *VT100*font6: -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-*-200-*-*-c-*-iso8859-15 xterm*visualBell: true xterm*foreground: black xterm*scrollBar: true Other programs like Evolution (Gnome apps) require an additional file where you specify what fonts to use. So i made a ~/.gtkrc file where i specified something like this: style "gtk-default-iso-8859-15" { fontset = "-*-helvetica-medium-r-normal--10-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-15,\ -*-helvetica-medium-r-normal--12-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-15,*-r-*" } class "GtkWidget" style "gtk-default-iso-8859-15" After these 3 changes, i cannot say that fonts bother me that much as they used to do. I agree that it could be made a bit more unified and it would be great if you would only have to adjust 1 file and *every* X program would take that in account. Benedict -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]