I am trying to modify /etc/X11/xorg.conf How would I bring that up to actually be able to modify it? It doesn't seem to want to do it for me.

Usually, unless you know what you are doing, I would suggest use either xorgcfg, xorgconfig or xorgsetup to modify the file. If you know exactly what to change, you can use any text editor and edit the file accordingly.

root@AB60R:~# cd /etc/X11
root@AB60R:/etc/X11# lsg xorg
xorg.conf
xorg.conf-fbdev
xorg.conf-vesa
xorg.conf.acbackup
xorg.conf.backup
xorg.conf~
root@AB60R:/etc/X11# cp xorg.conf /root/xorg.conf.orig
root@AB60R:/etc/X11# vim xorg.conf
---

That's the vim user's way.

Another way: Do you use KDE?

If so, on menu,

> system > more applications > file manager - Super user mode

Then (in such file manager) enter the /etc/X11 directory, find xorg.conf

right click xorg.conf then with left mouse button click on "open with", choose kate (an editor).

Yet other ways exist, perhaps pico or other editors if the above two do not suit your fancy.

It kind of depends on you -- what your experience level is, what desktop you use (or are you in run level 3) if so then vi or vim or whatever else editor avails without the X server running.

Don't forget to backup first (the cp command listed above makes a backup).

--
Alan.

I'm actually trying to make the fonts better in firefox by using better Font Scaling. If you guys know a good way to do this just say so. I'm following these directions:

Better Font Scaling

Now its' time to set your font resolution and screen dimensions.

Execute startx -- -dpi 96, fire up a terminal and type in xdpyinfo | grep dimensions. You'll see something like:
dimensions: 1024x768 pixels (274x203 millimeters)

Immediately edit “/etc/X11/xorg.conf”. In your Monitor section, add—
DisplaySize 274 203

—replacing 274 and 203 with the values that xdpyinfo actually gave you.

Now X will set your font resolution to the desired dpi (96, in this case) and scale your fonts appropriately. If you're using MythTV then you'll need a DisplaySize that sets your font resolution to 100dpi, not 96dpi.

If you need more, have a look at Mozilla Font Size / DPI Issues on Unix.

This usually isn't necessary with NVidia cards. If you have one, the information is contained in the “Dots per Inch” appendex of the driver's README file.

Next, in your xorg.conf's FontPaths section, change
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"

to
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc:unscaled/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi:unscaled/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi:unscaled/"

The reason is that the unscaled bitmap fonts in these directories look better than scaled ones.



By the way, I'm using XFCE.

Oh, you should have told us you are looking for editing your desktop fonts....

I thought we should edit /etc/fonts/fonts.conf or ~/.fonts.conf? But I think editing xorg.conf should be fine as well.

Anyway, I seldom do anything with my fonts, it looks good enough for my desktop (I am using Dropline GNOME). But I guess, our taste will ultimately be different.

I usually just use nano, making sure to back up the original file.

cd /etc/X11
cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.orig
nano xorg.conf

Sounds good to me (your mentioned method). After all, Slackware caters to us hands on type of people. Learn by doing.

(Slackware 12.0)

al@AB60R:~$ xdpyinfo | grep dimensions
dimensions: 1152x864 pixels (292x219 millimeters)
al@AB60R:~$ xdpyinfo | grep resolution
resolution: 100x100 dots per inch

alias xs='startx -- -dpi 139'

That's how I start X and it gives me the listed 100x100

96 didn't do anything for me. So I began experimenting then locked it in at 139 (it works, what can I say).

I'm using the Redhat Liberation fonts. I enabled the byte code interpreter.

I used to use MS Core fonts. But Liberation does it for me -- I've not found a need to add MS Core fonts.

The above xdpyinfo plus the next quick and hunky is how I did it for me. And it does fine for me. Not endorsed for others though due to quick and hunky (use at your own risk).

In /usr/share/fonts I renamed TTF to old_TTF

As below, made a TTF sym link to liberation_ttf

Then ran the needed font commands which I now don't remember them but they are all over the www when search google/linux/ for fonts

al@AB60R:~$ cd /usr/share/fonts
al@AB60R:/usr/share/fonts$ ls
100dpi/ OTF/ TTF@ cyrillic/ liberation_ttf/ old_TTF/ util/
75dpi/ Speedo/ Type1/ encodings/ misc/ override/
al@AB60R:/usr/share/fonts$ ls -la TTF
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 2007-08-22 23:20 TTF -> liberation_ttf/
al@AB60R:/usr/share/fonts$ cd liberation_ttf
al@AB60R:/usr/share/fonts/liberation_ttf$ ls
LiberationMono-Bold.ttf LiberationSans-Bold.ttf LiberationSerif-Bold.ttf fonts.dir
LiberationMono-BoldItalic.ttf LiberationSans-BoldItalic.ttf LiberationSerif-BoldItalic.ttf fonts.scale
LiberationMono-Italic.ttf LiberationSans-Italic.ttf LiberationSerif-Italic.ttf
LiberationMono-Regular.ttf LiberationSans-Regular.ttf LiberationSerif-Regular.ttf
al@AB60R:/usr/share/fonts/liberation_ttf$

--
Alan.