Changing default type size in XFCE's terminal emulator (xterm)

Turbocapitalist · 06-17-2013, 10:44 AM

XFCE has xterm as the default terminal emulator. Looking at the manual page, I am led to believe that the option -fs should be used to set the type size to something other than the default. However, it seems to do nothing.

How do I change the default text size for xterm?

MultiSith · 06-17-2013, 04:16 PM

According to the official site it can be done through the menus. Did you try right-clicking on the background? It also mentions holding shift and pressing +/-.

The manual page surely says that but I'm wondering if some functions of Xterm are only applicable on other platforms.

In any case, it looks like you should be able to adjust the font size by editting ~/.Xresources.

It really seems like a simple question but its more complicated than I thought. I hope this helps.

MultiSith · 06-17-2013, 04:19 PM

I also suggest checking out ArchLinux's guide.... man, I love those guys.

Turbocapitalist · 06-18-2013, 01:53 AM

I should have mentioned that I've tried + and - combined with all the possible keys I can think of. Right clicking does nothing but highlight the text.

The archlinux wiki helped a bit. The option -fn seems to work but I still don't see a way to change the size up or down on the fly.

Code:

xterm -fn 8x16

druuna · 06-18-2013, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turbocapitalist

... but I still don't see a way to change the size up or down on the fly.

Have you tried: CTRL-mouse-right click?

This should show a menu with, among other things a VT font size you can choose.

Turbocapitalist · 06-18-2013, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by druuna

Have you tried: CTRL-mouse-right click?

This should show a menu with, among other things a VT font size you can choose.

Thanks. That helps. There's not much to choose from but some fonts are legible and larger.

Now to figure out how to make it the default.

druuna · 06-18-2013, 02:24 AM

Look for and edit XTerm and/or XTerm-color (on Debian they can be found under /etc/X11/app-defaults).

And maybe this link might help: Configuring Xterm in Linux

Turbocapitalist · 06-18-2013, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by druuna

Look for and edit XTerm and/or XTerm-color (on Debian they can be found under /etc/X11/app-defaults).

And maybe this link might help: Configuring Xterm in Linux

The xfontsel utility there seems useful. I now have a bit of reading to do on X11/app-defaults.