This is not a frivolous issue.
There are many fonts available on GNU/Linux but the only font
that I continually select for all my GUI apps and even virtual
terminals is the Liberation family:
https://github.com/liberationfonts/liberation-fonts
IMO, the Liberation fonts are the best and every other font
seems quite ugly or unsatisfying in comparison.
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is
not the main point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so
far ahead, aesthetically speaking?
Surely there are other candidates but I have found none
that appeal to me so greatly as does Liberation.
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite
fonts for general application use, especially in word processors
or text editors?
I am tempted to exclude all the dozens of GNU/Linux fonts
except for Liberation. Do you feel the same?
On 2025-04-12, L Thorpe <lt666@sixsixsix.net> wrote:
This is not a frivolous issue.
There are many fonts available on GNU/Linux but the only font
that I continually select for all my GUI apps and even virtual
terminals is the Liberation family:
https://github.com/liberationfonts/liberation-fonts
IMO, the Liberation fonts are the best and every other font
seems quite ugly or unsatisfying in comparison.
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is
not the main point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so
far ahead, aesthetically speaking?
Surely there are other candidates but I have found none
that appeal to me so greatly as does Liberation.
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite
fonts for general application use, especially in word processors
or text editors?
I am tempted to exclude all the dozens of GNU/Linux fonts
except for Liberation. Do you feel the same?
My .Xresources lists Cousine and Inconsolata, as well as for some
programs, Spleen.
There is another that I use on emacs for my desktop, but as I'm not near
it, and can't look it up, and I can't recall it.
When I use Emacs I use Courier Screenplay, but I only use Emacs with the Fountain-Mode plugin (which is used for screenplay formatting).
On Sun, 13 Apr 2025 03:25:27 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
When I use Emacs I use Courier Screenplay, but I only use Emacs with the
Fountain-Mode plugin (which is used for screenplay formatting).
The question is of such burning importance to me I have no idea what font I'm using in the various apps. One that I can read obviously. I'm amused
in the colophon of some books where they explain the font they selected at length. As long as it isn't Fraktur I'm good.
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is
not the main point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so
far ahead, aesthetically speaking?
Surely there are other candidates but I have found none
that appeal to me so greatly as does Liberation.
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite
fonts for general application use, especially in word processors
or text editors?
I am tempted to exclude all the dozens of GNU/Linux fonts
except for Liberation. Do you feel the same?
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is
not the main point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so
far ahead, aesthetically speaking?
Surely there are other candidates but I have found none
that appeal to me so greatly as does Liberation.
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite
fonts for general application use, especially in word processors
or text editors?
I am tempted to exclude all the dozens of GNU/Linux fonts
except for Liberation. Do you feel the same?
This is not a frivolous issue.
There are many fonts available on GNU/Linux but the only font
that I continually select for all my GUI apps and even virtual
terminals is the Liberation family:
https://github.com/liberationfonts/liberation-fonts
IMO, the Liberation fonts are the best and every other font
seems quite ugly or unsatisfying in comparison.
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is
not the main point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so
far ahead, aesthetically speaking?
Surely there are other candidates but I have found none
that appeal to me so greatly as does Liberation.
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite
fonts for general application use, especially in word processors
or text editors?
I am tempted to exclude all the dozens of GNU/Linux fonts
except for Liberation. Do you feel the same?
Can your font handle Unicode? What follows is a test.
The only text editor I've seen that passes the two-column
combining characters section below was the Midnight Commander
internal editor.
<snip>
[----------------------------|------------------------]
๏ แผ่นดินฮั่นเสื่อมโทรมแสนสังเวช พระปกเกศกองบู๊กู้ขึ้นใหม่
สิบสองกษัตริย์ก่อนหน้าแลถัดไป สององค์ไซร้โง่เขลาเบาปัญญา
ทรงนับถือขันทีเป็นที่พึ่ง บ้านเมืองจึงวิปริตเป็นนักหนา
โฮจิ๋นเรียกทัพทั่วหัวเมืองมา หมายจะฆ่ามดชั่วตัวสำคัญ
เหมือนขับไสไล่เสือจากเคหา รับหมาป่าเข้ามาเลยอาสัญ
ฝ่ายอ้องอุ้นยุแยกให้แตกกัน ใช้สาวนั้นเป็นชนวนชื่นชวนใจ
พลันลิฉุยกุยกีกลับก่อเหตุ ช่างอาเพศจริงหนาฟ้าร้องไห้
ต้องรบราฆ่าฟันจนบรรลัย ฤๅหาใครค้ำชูกู้บรรลังก์ ฯ
(The above is a two-column text. If combining characters are handled
correctly, the lines of the second column should be aligned with the
| character above.)
Ethiopian:
Proverbs in the Amharic language:
Runes:
Terminus handles all the above including this:
[----------------------------|------------------------]
๏ แผ่นดินฮั่นเสื่อมโทรมแสนสังเวช พระปกเกศกองบู๊กู้ขึ้นใหม่
สิบสองกษัตริย์ก่อนหน้าแลถัดไป สององค์ไซร้โง่เขลาเบาปัญญา
ทรงนับถือขันทีเป็นที่พึ่ง บ้านเมืองจึงวิปริตเป็นนักหนา
โฮจิ๋นเรียกทัพทั่วหัวเมืองมา หมายจะฆ่ามดชั่วตัวสำคัญ
เหมือนขับไสไล่เสือจากเคหา รับหมาป่าเข้ามาเลยอาสัญ
ฝ่ายอ้องอุ้นยุแยกให้แตกกัน ใช้สาวนั้นเป็นชนวนชื่นชวนใจ
พลันลิฉุยกุยกีกลับก่อเหตุ ช่างอาเพศจริงหนาฟ้าร้องไห้
ต้องรบราฆ่าฟันจนบรรลัย ฤๅหาใครค้ำชูกู้บรรลังก์ ฯ
L Thorpe wrote this post while blinking in Morse code:
This is not a frivolous issue.
There are many fonts available on GNU/Linux but the only font that I
continually select for all my GUI apps and even virtual terminals is
the Liberation family:
https://github.com/liberationfonts/liberation-fonts
IMO, the Liberation fonts are the best and every other font seems quite
ugly or unsatisfying in comparison.
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is not the main
point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so far ahead,
aesthetically speaking?
Surely there are other candidates but I have found none that appeal to
me so greatly as does Liberation.
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite fonts for
general application use, especially in word processors or text editors?
I am tempted to exclude all the dozens of GNU/Linux fonts except for
Liberation. Do you feel the same?
I use Terminus in my terminal windows, conky, and gvim. Also in xfce,
though I don't run that at the moment. I haven't yet bothered to update
my favorite Fluxbox themes to use terminus.
In GUI apps I use whatever the themes support.
Farley Flud wrote this post while blinking in Morse code:
Can your font handle Unicode? What follows is a test.
The only text editor I've seen that passes the two-column combining
characters section below was the Midnight Commander internal editor.
I saw the other post about Biolinum and looked into it. It's very
organic, and maybe a bit "far-out", but I might give it a shot
sometime soon. Wouldn't hurt to jazz up the newsreader.
On 13 Apr 2025 16:32:13 GMT, vallor wrote:
I saw the other post about Biolinum and looked into it. It's veryThe Biolinum font is part of the Libertine font package and it seems to
organic, and maybe a bit "far-out", but I might give it a shot sometime
soon. Wouldn't hurt to jazz up the newsreader.
have been superseded by the Libertinus fonts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertinus
IMO, Libertinus does not look that good. For text editors a monospaced
font is always recommended and Libertinus Mono is, IMO, not very
attractive.
On 13 Apr 2025 16:32:13 GMT, vallor wrote:
I saw the other post about Biolinum and looked into it. It's very
organic, and maybe a bit "far-out", but I might give it a shot
sometime soon. Wouldn't hurt to jazz up the newsreader.
The Biolinum font is part of the Libertine font package and it
seems to have been superseded by the Libertinus fonts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertinus
IMO, Libertinus does not look that good. For text editors
a monospaced font is always recommended and Libertinus Mono
is, IMO, not very attractive.
On 2025-04-13, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
On Sun, 13 Apr 2025 03:25:27 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
When I use Emacs I use Courier Screenplay, but I only use Emacs with
the Fountain-Mode plugin (which is used for screenplay formatting).
The question is of such burning importance to me I have no idea what
font I'm using in the various apps. One that I can read obviously. I'm
amused in the colophon of some books where they explain the font they
selected at length. As long as it isn't Fraktur I'm good.
I like a fixed width font when typing out a paper or a story. I guess
old habits die out hard.
This is not a frivolous issue.
There are many fonts available on GNU/Linux but the only font
that I continually select for all my GUI apps and even virtual
terminals is the Liberation family:
https://github.com/liberationfonts/liberation-fonts
IMO, the Liberation fonts are the best and every other font
seems quite ugly or unsatisfying in comparison.
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is
not the main point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so
far ahead, aesthetically speaking?
Surely there are other candidates but I have found none
that appeal to me so greatly as does Liberation.
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite
fonts for general application use, especially in word processors
or text editors?
I am tempted to exclude all the dozens of GNU/Linux fonts
except for Liberation. Do you feel the same?
This is not a frivolous issue.
There are many fonts available on GNU/Linux but the only font
that I continually select for all my GUI apps and even virtual
terminals is the Liberation family:
https://github.com/liberationfonts/liberation-fonts
IMO, the Liberation fonts are the best and every other font
seems quite ugly or unsatisfying in comparison.
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is
not the main point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so
far ahead, aesthetically speaking?
Surely there are other candidates but I have found none
that appeal to me so greatly as does Liberation.
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite
fonts for general application use, especially in word processors
or text editors?
I am tempted to exclude all the dozens of GNU/Linux fonts
except for Liberation. Do you feel the same?
Most of the editors I use only say 'Monospace'
On 13 Apr 2025 18:56:47 GMT, rbowman wrote:
Most of the editors I use only say 'Monospace'
A text editor, and that includes email and Usenet editors,
should always use a monospaced font. Otherwise such things
as ASCII art and even line breaks will be distorted.
A word processor, OTOH, is the place for more flowery fonts.
On Sun, 13 Apr 2025 08:57:28 -0400, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
Terminus handles all the above including this:
<snip>
I don't know.
Terminus is a "funny" font. It is distributed both as the
traditional X PCF (Portable Compiled Format) and as the
OTB (Open Type Bitmap).
In any case it is not TTF (True Type Font) or OTF (Open
Type Font). It is an X bitmap font.
I cannot open the OTB font in the uxterm (xterm unicode)
terminal but I can open the PCF font.
What I get in displaying the Unicode test file is this:
https://i.postimg.cc/9FCsGd5Y/terminus1.png
The formatting is correct but the actual Unicode chars are
absent.
It should look like this:
https://i.postimg.cc/9f6nzTYT/terminus2.png
Thus, unless I am doing something wrong, the Terminus font
seems quite substandard.
L Thorpe <lt666@sixsixsix.net> wrote at 18:31 this Saturday (GMT):
This is not a frivolous issue.
There are many fonts available on GNU/Linux but the only font
that I continually select for all my GUI apps and even virtual
terminals is the Liberation family:
https://github.com/liberationfonts/liberation-fonts
IMO, the Liberation fonts are the best and every other font
seems quite ugly or unsatisfying in comparison.
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is
not the main point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so
far ahead, aesthetically speaking?
Surely there are other candidates but I have found none
that appeal to me so greatly as does Liberation.
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite
fonts for general application use, especially in word processors
or text editors?
I am tempted to exclude all the dozens of GNU/Linux fonts
except for Liberation. Do you feel the same?
I use a bunch of fonts from https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/ and
also "pokemon emerald pro"
Farley Flud wrote this post while blinking in Morse code:
On Sun, 13 Apr 2025 08:57:28 -0400, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
Terminus handles all the above including this:
<snip>
I don't know.
Terminus is a "funny" font. It is distributed both as the traditional
X PCF (Portable Compiled Format) and as the OTB (Open Type Bitmap).
In any case it is not TTF (True Type Font) or OTF (Open Type Font). It
is an X bitmap font.
There is a Terminus TTF font, as well. There's 5 different terminus font packages in Debian Sid. I just installed them all, and see this:
$ find /usr/share/fonts/ -iname "*terminus*" /usr/share/fonts/truetype/terminus /usr/share/fonts/truetype/terminus/TerminusTTF-4.46.0.ttf /usr/share/fonts/opentype/terminus /usr/share/fonts/opentype/terminus/terminus-bold.otb /usr/share/fonts/opentype/terminus/terminus-normal.otb /usr/share/fonts/opentype/terminus/terminus-bold-oblique.otb /usr/share/fonts/opentype/terminus/terminus-oblique.otb
Not sure which package installed the TTF version (the otb was the only
one installed until now).
candycanearter07 wrote this post while blinking in Morse code:
L Thorpe <lt666@sixsixsix.net> wrote at 18:31 this Saturday (GMT):
This is not a frivolous issue.
There are many fonts available on GNU/Linux but the only font that I
continually select for all my GUI apps and even virtual terminals is
the Liberation family:
https://github.com/liberationfonts/liberation-fonts
IMO, the Liberation fonts are the best and every other font seems
quite ugly or unsatisfying in comparison.
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is not the
main point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so far ahead,
aesthetically speaking?
Surely there are other candidates but I have found none that appeal to
me so greatly as does Liberation.
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite fonts for
general application use, especially in word processors or text
editors?
I am tempted to exclude all the dozens of GNU/Linux fonts except for
Liberation. Do you feel the same?
I use a bunch of fonts from https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/ and
also "pokemon emerald pro"
Heh, I've installed the Atari ST font from time to time; now I see the fonts-atarist package in Debian Sid.
Here's a quick example on my computer:
https://imgur.com/a/oJ0prmr
Just a little bit of nostalgia... the Atari ST gave me many happy hours
of fun.
On Mon, 14 Apr 2025 08:31:09 -0400, Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> wrote in <vtiv6e$175nh$3@dont-email.me>:
<snip>
Heh, I've installed the Atari ST font from time to time; now I see the
fonts-atarist package in Debian Sid.
Here's a quick example on my computer:
https://imgur.com/a/oJ0prmr
Just a little bit of nostalgia... the Atari ST gave me many happy hours
of fun.
This one, as well as Terminus, are too jaggy for my taste.
Here is Liberation:
https://imgur.com/zXHPOOe
And here is one with the body in Libertinus Sans Regular:
https://imgur.com/8ZoMStp
On Mon, 14 Apr 2025 08:19:05 -0400, Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> wrote in <vtiufq$175nh$2@dont-email.me>:
$ find /usr/share/fonts/ -iname "*terminus*"
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/terminus
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/terminus/TerminusTTF-4.46.0.ttf
/usr/share/fonts/opentype/terminus
/usr/share/fonts/opentype/terminus/terminus-bold.otb
/usr/share/fonts/opentype/terminus/terminus-normal.otb
/usr/share/fonts/opentype/terminus/terminus-bold-oblique.otb
/usr/share/fonts/opentype/terminus/terminus-oblique.otb
Not sure which package installed the TTF version (the otb was the only
one installed until now).
apt-file(1) is your friend. :)
$ apt-file search /usr/share/fonts/truetype/terminus/TerminusTTF-4.46.0.ttf fonts-terminus: /usr/share/fonts/truetype/terminus/TerminusTTF-4.46.0.ttf
IMO, the Liberation fonts are the best and every other font
seems quite ugly or unsatisfying in comparison.
Liberation also has extensive Unicode coverage but that is
not the main point of concern.
To me, this is unusual. Why should one font family be so
far ahead, aesthetically speaking?
What are the experiences of others? What are YOUR favorite
fonts for general application use, especially in word processors
or text editors?
tend to content
themselves with*merely* being a functional alternative, and never
strive for anything greater. Call it the "government cheese" effect.
ITYM 'American cheese'
As fake as Trumps suntan.
On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 11:37:11 +0100 The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
ITYM 'American cheese'
As fake as Trumps suntan.
Now that's hardly fair; processed cheese actually involved the real
thing at some point ;P
Now that's hardly fair; processed cheese actually involved the real
thing at some point ;P
I think Velveeta has evolved to the point where real cheese isn't
involved and they can't call it a processed cheese product.
Honestly, Liberation is...a little on the ugly side. Perfectly
functional, but not beautiful or even particularly pleasant to look at.
Nimbus Mono is my preference for terminals/text editors.
As far as print fonts go ...
I suppose that it is all in the eye of the beholder.
But LibreOffice has chosen Liberation as the default font
and it can't be just for the Unicode coverage.
Although perhaps moot, the Nimbus fonts, being part of the ghostscript
URW collection, AFAIK do not support Unicode. although they do support
most European languages.
Print? Does anyone still print?
On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 19:01:47 +0000
Farley Flud <ff@linux.rocks> wrote:
I suppose that it is all in the eye of the beholder.
But LibreOffice has chosen Liberation as the default font
and it can't be just for the Unicode coverage.
They're free to do as they like - and again, it's certainly a
functional good-enough; I just wouldn't classify it as particularly
nice on an aesthetic level, is all.
Although perhaps moot, the Nimbus fonts, being part of the ghostscript
URW collection, AFAIK do not support Unicode. although they do support
most European languages.
Haven't checked it for full Unicode coverage; fortunately, I don't need
more than extended Latin in my day-to-day, which it handles just fine.
Print? Does anyone still print?
Well, if I ever get around to finishing the typesetting for my novel...
On 15 Apr 2025 17:40:09 GMT rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
Now that's hardly fair; processed cheese actually involved the real
thing at some point ;P
I think Velveeta has evolved to the point where real cheese isn't
involved and they can't call it a processed cheese product.
Seems distinctly possible XD There *are* better "American cheese"
options out there, but I'll take cheddar on a burger anyday - or better
yet, mushroom & Swiss.
On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 11:03:10 -0700, John Ames wrote:
On 15 Apr 2025 17:40:09 GMT rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
Now that's hardly fair; processed cheese actually involved the real
thing at some point ;P
I think Velveeta has evolved to the point where real cheese isn't
involved and they can't call it a processed cheese product.
Seems distinctly possible XD There *are* better "American cheese"
options out there, but I'll take cheddar on a burger anyday - or better
yet, mushroom & Swiss.
That can be disappointing depending on the cheddar. Tillamook cheddar
melts nicely but some of the cheddars I get like KerryGold don't melt
well. Getting something that melts uniformly is what started the processed cheese thing.
One thing I miss about New England is the 'rattrap' cheese that the
country stores would whittle off a round. What is advertised as super
duper extra sharp by the national brands doesn't even come close.
On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 11:03:10 -0700, John Ames wrote:
On 15 Apr 2025 17:40:09 GMT rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
Now that's hardly fair; processed cheese actually involved the real
thing at some point ;P
I think Velveeta has evolved to the point where real cheese isn't
involved and they can't call it a processed cheese product.
Seems distinctly possible XD There *are* better "American cheese"
options out there, but I'll take cheddar on a burger anyday - or better
yet, mushroom & Swiss.
That can be disappointing depending on the cheddar. Tillamook cheddar
melts nicely but some of the cheddars I get like KerryGold don't melt
well. Getting something that melts uniformly is what started the processed cheese thing.
One thing I miss about New England is the 'rattrap' cheese that the
country stores would whittle off a round. What is advertised as super
duper extra sharp by the national brands doesn't even come close.
On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 19:01:47 +0000
Farley Flud <ff@linux.rocks> wrote:
I suppose that it is all in the eye of the beholder.
But LibreOffice has chosen Liberation as the default font
and it can't be just for the Unicode coverage.
They're free to do as they like - and again, it's certainly a
functional good-enough; I just wouldn't classify it as particularly
nice on an aesthetic level, is all.
Although perhaps moot, the Nimbus fonts, being part of the ghostscript
URW collection, AFAIK do not support Unicode. although they do support
most European languages.
Haven't checked it for full Unicode coverage; fortunately, I don't need
more than extended Latin in my day-to-day, which it handles just fine.
Print? Does anyone still print?
Well, if I ever get around to finishing the typesetting for my novel...
Neither is Times New Roman, or Arial. It gets the job done, and looks
clean enough.
Print? Does anyone still print?
Well, if I ever get around to finishing the typesetting for my
novel...
Do you mean printing documents from a standard printer?
On Wed, 16 Apr 2025 14:00:05 -0000 (UTC)
candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid>
wrote:
Neither is Times New Roman, or Arial. It gets the job done, and looks
clean enough.
True enough - never liked those, either. I'd actually put the FOSS Alternatives (TM) over both, in a head-to-head; it just doesn't make Liberation *aesthetically pleasing,* is all.
Print? Does anyone still print?
Well, if I ever get around to finishing the typesetting for my
novel...
Do you mean printing documents from a standard printer?
Well, more "intended to end up on paper at some point" than "I actually currently own and use a printer" - haven't used one on the regular
since the mid-'00s. But I sure didn't write a novel to *not* hold a
print copy in my hands at some point...!
True enough - never liked those, either. I'd actually put the FOSS Alternatives (TM) over both, in a head-to-head; it just doesn't make Liberation *aesthetically pleasing,* is all.
Again, theyre Just Fine.
Wow, you wrote a novel? Can we see?
John Ames wrote:
On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 19:01:47 +0000this is funny
Farley Flud <ff@linux.rocks> wrote:
On Thu, 17 Apr 2025 19:00:03 -0000 (UTC)
candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid>
wrote:
True enough - never liked those, either. I'd actually put the FOSS
Alternatives (TM) over both, in a head-to-head; it just doesn't make
Liberation *aesthetically pleasing,* is all.
Again, theyre Just Fine.
They're perfectly functional; I just don't find them particularly pleasant/beautiful, which was the initial point of discussion.
Wow, you wrote a novel? Can we see?
It's under another 'nym on another corner of the 'Net that I try to
keep separate-ish, but if you drop me a line on my personal e-mail I
might not mind sharing ;)
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