Arch Linux

ggg377

Member

Registered: 2015-02-20

Posts: 43

[SOLVED] Confusion with fontconfig

I have used the wiki for all types of purposes and I've managed to pull off some neat configurations with it, but for the first time I'm having a really hard time understanding an article. The fonts and font config articles detail all types of tweaks and advanced configuration options such as presets, anti-aliasing and so on (which are handled by Infinality anyway), but I can't see any mention of setting a default font, which is a common option in most distros. I've spent the whole day searching for forum posts, reading manuals and looking through configuration files and I see nothing that could help me reach an actual solution. I think it may have something to do with the /etc/fonts/conf.d folder, but I'm not sure and I don't want to modify crucial system files without a guide and I would prefer to modify local files. I have also set up a skeleton ~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf file if that's helpful (this may not be the correct configuration file for this purpose, but I did this for future reference).

fc-match sans-serif returns this: NotoSans-Regular.ttf: "Noto Sans" "Regular" and fc-match monospace returns this: LiberationMono-Regular.ttf: "Liberation Mono" "Regular". Screenfetch shows my default font as Cantarell 11, my Openbox fonts are DejaVu Sans and my GTK font set under .gtkrc-2.0.mine is Droid Sans 10, which is what I'm actually seeing on my system. Is there a way to unify my default fonts in Arch? What I described is a mess, which I lack the skills to clean up. I don't need a complicated configuration at all, I would be happy with the most basic setup - Droid Sans should be the base font for most uses besides Openbox and monospace. Is changing the output of fc-match desirable in this case?

Last edited by ggg377 (2015-02-28 17:52:13)

Head_on_a_Stick

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From: The Wirral

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 8,999

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Re: [SOLVED] Confusion with fontconfig

You have set up your fonts correctly AFAICT, I think screenfetch is trying to read from a (non-existent?) .gtkrc-2.0 file and just falls back to the Canterell default.

The `fc-match` commands list the font alias for sans-serif & monospace (ie, what would actually be used if you specified those fonts in .gtkrc-2.0.mine).

I use lxappearance in my openbox desktop to set the fonts -- this writes to .gtkrc-2.0

I'm not sure what your requirement is in respect of monospace fonts -- if it is for your terminal emulator, that would be set using the emulator's config. file (.Xresources/.Xdefaults?).

I recently set up a fresh Arch system and all that was required for perfectly acceptable font rendering was the use of the basic font config described in the ArchWiki [1] and disabling the use of bitmap fonts [2].

[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/fo … igurations
[2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/fo … tmap_fonts

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Jin, Jîyan, Azadî

ggg377

Member

Registered: 2015-02-20

Posts: 43

Re: [SOLVED] Confusion with fontconfig

@Head_on_a_Stick

Thanks for your quick answer. This helps me process the crazy amount of information that's associated with this topic a bit easier. I have 0 requirements regarding monospace, I have set a font in my terminal emulator and it works fine so maybe that was worded a bit clumsily. I will seek no change to that unless necessary. The fc-match is also fine and can be left alone from what I can understand.

I also have lxappearance, but the fonts section doesn't have an option to set the default font (do you have a dropdown menu?), just tweaks like antialiasing, hinting an so on. But you helped pin down the reason my Screenfetch displays Cantarell 11 instead of Droid Sans 10. It fetches that from .gtkrc-2.0 (not .gtkrc-2.0.mine where my additional configurations including font are). I manually changed the setting in that file to Droid Sans 10 and this also changed the output of Screenfetch. This changed nothing in my system as it already used Droid Sans 10 from my gtkrc-2.0.mine file. I think this setup might be undesirable and messy, but I currently can't figure out what's wrong with it. Having a .gtkrc-2.0-mine file is normal, so maybe it's just something about Screenfetch.

The lines that specify a GTK font in my .gtkrc-2.0.mine look like this

{
font_name = "Droid Sans 10"
}
widget_class "*" style "schrift"
gtk-font-name = "Droid Sans 10"

My font rendering is actually normal, I was just concerned about these contradicting outputs from different programs. At this point I have installed multiple Infinality packages (the bundle and base fonts) and I'm not looking to get rid of them right now in fear of breakage, but I may do so on a future system.

Last edited by ggg377 (2015-02-28 17:48:47)

Head_on_a_Stick

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From: The Wirral

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 8,999

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Re: [SOLVED] Confusion with fontconfig

I also have lxappearance, but the fonts section doesn't have an option to set the default font (do you have a dropdown menu?)

It's on the "Widget" tab at the bottom right ("Default font")

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Jin, Jîyan, Azadî

ggg377

Member

Registered: 2015-02-20

Posts: 43

Re: [SOLVED] Confusion with fontconfig

I also have lxappearance, but the fonts section doesn't have an option to set the default font (do you have a dropdown menu?)

It's on the "Widget" tab at the bottom right ("Default font")

Ugh, it's there. This topic can be considered solved and I can finally have a peace of mind over font rendering (until I decide to go with a more barebones solution in a future setup). I also removed the extra lines from .gtkrc-2.0.mine now that lxappearance is really in charge of my default font. Thanks for your help!

tl;dr Please look more closely at your lxappearance

Last edited by ggg377 (2015-02-28 17:55:42)

pnotz17

Member

From: Greece

Registered: 2020-03-17

Posts: 11

Re: [SOLVED] Confusion with fontconfig

hello i have the same issue lxapperance and obconf change all rest of the fonts but not the default font that you an see in pcmanfm ,so do i have to create xdefaults or add something in xresources?i am just trying to change the font in pcmanfm someone told me to go into pcmanfm.conf and add desktop_font=your font  but it wouldn't save for some reason even as su

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Rule 18: It’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission.

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 13,694

Re: [SOLVED] Confusion with fontconfig

So you necrobump and hijack a thread to ask a question about your Manjaro install? Are you just trying to see how much it takes to get banned?

WorMzy

Administrator

From: Scotland

Registered: 2010-06-16

Posts: 13,408

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Re: [SOLVED] Confusion with fontconfig

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Co … bumping%22

Closing.

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