One of the most annoying sets of problems I have had to deal with is the abysmal default fonts and font settings of X (I'm talking specifically about XFree86, other versions of X may be better.) Many programs use fixed width default fonts when a variable width font would be more appropriate. Other programs use fonts that are ridiculously tiny and unreadable. The fonts that are bundled with XFree86 are barely adequate for the job. It does come with a halfway decent courier font, but its Times and Helvetica fonts are simple bitmap fonts that pixelize when they are scaled. Yuck!
This HOWTO attempts to show how to adjust various font settings, install new fonts, and do other things that will greatly improve the appearance and readability of fonts on the X Window Desktop. This is done by adjusting the FontPath in the XF86Config file, by adding switches to X server command line in startx or xdm (and variants), by adding new fonts, by installing a TrueType font server and fonts, and by using a feature in the K Desktop Environment 1.1 that automagically adjusts font settings in many applications, including non-KDE apps to set their fonts and colors to match KDE's style settings.
Comments, corrections, additions and critiques are always welcome. You can reach the authors at <meldroc@frii.com>, or <hal@foobox.net>
Where examples of commands are used, a "#" character is used to denote where typically the command would be run as the root user. A "$" is used where typically a non-root user would be executing the command.
The examples use /usr/local/share/fonts/ttfonts as our TrueType font directory. There is no magic to this location, and could conceivably just as well be in any number of other locations.
References to "xfs" are to the xfs as packaged by Redhat for versions 6.x and later. This differs significantly in some respects from the stock XFree86 xfs.
References to "Netscape" are to the entire suite of programs from Netscape: Communicator, Navigator, Messenger, etc. For all intents and purposes, font configuration in Mozilla is the same.
'XF86Config' is the X configuration file. For Redhat based distros, as of Redhat 7.0, this is now 'XF86Config-4' for XFree86 4.x. For the most part, we'll just use 'XF86Config' here.
Also, while some aspects of XFree86 4.x configuration are the same as 3.3.x, there are some significant differences. We'll only highlight the differences. So unless noted otherwise, any comments or examples will apply to both 3.x and 4.x versions.
0.1: Feb. 21, 1999: First release.
0.11: Feb. 27, 1999: Added copyright info to protect my butt.
0.12: Jun. 10, 1999: Added A Plea for Help.
0.20: Sep. 14, 1999: Added section on xfs for Redhatters. Many thanks to Hal Burgiss for his contribution.
1.0: Nov. 23, 1999: Converted document to SGML, for submission to the Linux Documentation Project. Removed Plea for Help.
1.5: July 25, 2000: New sections added on fonts.alias, XFree86 4.x, and xfsft. Miscellaneous other changes and additions.
1.55: Oct 11, 2000: Additional info on XFree86 4.x, especially Redhat's changes for RH7.0. A few other minor updates and additions.
Version 1.55 adds additional information relating to XFree86 4.x, and in particular what is new with Redhat 7.0. Also adding a neglected credit to Kristin Aanestad for his insight into much of what this document is all about.
Version 1.5 includes new sections on xfsft, fonts.alias and XFree86 4.x. Also, includes new Links and Notes sections, as well as a rewrite of the xfs sections. Various other changes and additions.
The latest version of this document can be found at http://feenix.eyep.net/ldp/fdu/index.html.
Copyright © 1999 by Doug Holland.
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Created by Doug Holland.
Email: meldroc@frii.com
WWW: http://www.frii.com/~meldroc/
Updated by Hal Burgiss.
Email: hal@foobox.net
WWW: http://feenix.eyep.net/
Special thanks go to:
The developers of the XFree86 Project, for all the hard work and time they have given. Also, Juliusz Chroboczek for his work with xfsft, and XFree86 4.x to help bring TrueType to the masses.
Font wizard Kristin Aanestad, whose legwork and insight on much of the xfs, TrueType, Netscape, and especially, the fonts.alias sections are much appreciated. More from Kristin at Some Linux for Beginners on a wide range of topics.
The folks at comp.os.linux.x who gave me a hand in figuring all of this out in the first place.
The Linux community in general who made all of this possible in the first place.
Microsoft and Apple: for providing the fonts that adorn my desktop.