I know "works for me" isn't helpful, but it's the best I can do. I downloaded the Firefox 3 source, untarred it to create a "mozilla" directory, then typed "cd mozilla ; patch -p1 < /path/to/proposed.diff", where "proposed.diff" is the file I linked to earlier. To downloaded "proposed.diff", I opened it in a web browser and then saved it.
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Bill. |
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http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=20297 |
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First: I'm still on Slack 12.0 - no 12.1. Pkg-config says, I'm using fontconfig 2.4.2 and I have no specific fontconfig patch lying around right now. For freetype and Xft, I'm using your already patched Slackware packages. For recent Cairo versions, I use the patch you can check out here. I just re-did it on a clean cairo (with changed filename and dirname) - with this result: patch -p0 < PerfectFontStuff/libcairo-1.6.4-lcd-cleartype-like.diff Code:
patching file libcairo-1.6.4/src/cairo-ft-font.c And matching the subject of the thread: I compiled FF3 (and xulrunner) with this flags: Code:
./configure --enable-system-cairo --enable-system-lcms I tried _your_ mentioned patch, which also patches cleanly (with some minor offsets) which I'm going to try now. |
Your patch works also fine, I see no difference visually. I can't set the fontconfig settings though, too old of a version it seems.
Nevertheless, the more recent cairo patch seems to work. And now I don't see anything at all anymore thanks to intensively staring on single pixels. ;) Oh, and by the way: gtkrc font settings override FF3 specific font settings coming from "userChrome.css" (at least when I tested it..), so if STILL something seem really strange, tweak there. I'm still not sure if I'm going to like gtk theme obedience or not... |
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Thanks Again. |
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http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/3651/uikp3.png Personally I think that if you don't tell people they won't even notice the difference, its more of a thrill of fixing something thats not broken. I do see a problem with colored pixels however. |
Now that I've tried some other subpixel patches, such as ones from this Gentoo thread, I really appreciate that you chose the best for us.
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Which Arch packages are these patches used in? Is it the -lcd packages?
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Hmm... I see now what you mean, I tested out your patch above and if I use cairo with your patch It works fine with fontconfig 2.4.2. I think I will update my page 2 post with this info, however there really is a slight difference in quality, its extremely minute, but is noticeable... at least to me :) I took some screenshots and zoomed in on them just to compare and the only difference is that your patch with fontconfig 2.4.2 has a slightly lighter contrast to the text and the arch patches with fontconfig 2.6.0 has a little darker text. But you have to have good eyes to see the difference, very minute. For my eyes though I think the arch patches with the new fontconfig are slightly less "fuzzy" |
I read, on the Arch Linux forums, about people taking Ubuntu's font patches and using them on Arch. I tried them on Slackware and the results are good! Are they better than the LCD patches that Daedra ported for us? I don't know. They're both good and the choice is tough:
Here are the Slackbuilds. freetype:fontconfiglibXftcairoPatches and package versions are the same as on Hardy. And here are my font settings: /etc/fonts/conf.d
/etc/fonts/local.conf Code:
<?xml version="1.0"?> |
Nice post dugan, I am going to try these tomorrow and see how they look, I'm curious to see the difference.
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I just tried the new "hardy fonts" method.
Seems abit better in my case. I set in Firefox 3.0 to use the "liberation sans, liberation serif, liberation mono", and bumped up the size a little bit to 14. Now fonts are 90% there. I am still frustrated on this fonts topic though. I wish we could just have a simple consistent fonts approach across all platforms. My fonts are now the best I have ever seen them in slack but less spectacular then I have seen in other OS's. I guess I need to do some more research into the understanding of this. Thanks again guy's didn't want to come accross as non-appreciative for your work, I am very thankful for your work & has drastically improved my fonts. I am Just frustrated with the overall Linux font situation. One question I do have? Do we still use the "/home/user/.fonts.conf" file from the original post? I removed all the changes I made from post #1 prior to using this last method? |
If you look in /etc/fonfs/conf.d and /etc/fonts/conf.avail, you'll see that 50-user.conf calls .fonts.conf and 51-local.conf calls local.conf. These files are loaded in numerical order, and options cannot be overridden once set. So if an option is set differently in .fonts.conf and local.conf, the .fonts.conf settings will be used.
Therefore, you were right to empty your .fonts.conf before setting up a local.conf. |
Ok makes sense now.
Thanks for the clarification. Also something to note. I noticed in your "local.conf" you reference "/usr/local/share/fonts" and by default the font directory is "/usr/share/fonts" in slackware 12.1. I am not sure if this is something that was done on purpose or not, but I just made the change in my file and seems to have fixed my font issues and I returned my Fiefox settings back to default. Everything seems to be good now. |
You know how to install new fonts, right?
My local.conf file searches for fonts in /usr/local/share/fonts. So to install a new font, you just put the font file (.ttf, otf, .dfont, .pcf, etc) in /usr/local/share/fonts and then run "fc-cache -f -v" as root. As for font recommendations, I recommend installing Microsoft's Core Web Fonts at the very least. If you go to the Unicode Font Guide, you will find a script to download lots of foreign language fonts. You need those to display Wikipedia. My KDE desktop fonts set up according to an OS X Imitation Guide. My GNOME desktop fonts are set up the same way. In Xfce, my UI font is 8pt Segoe UI (which I copied from my Vista partition) and my window manager font is Trebuchet MS Bold 11pt. |
Looks like I edited my post above the same time you were posting your response.
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I just got done with a full day of running the ubuntu-LCD and I have to say that its apples and oranges, no major difference that makes one better than the other. Nice work on the buildscripts dugan.
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Thanks, Daedra. I'm currently revising the scripts to make them download the packages.
If you're wondering why I used Hardy packages and not Intrepid packages, it's because the libXft and cairo in Intrepid won't build against the fontconfig in Intrepid. Go figure. |
On my next day off I think I am going to try all 4 again and take screenshots... Just for fun. It seems like there are
-LCD -Ubuntu-LCD -cleartype -xeffects I think xeffects has been abandoned but I am going to check.. |
Hi,
Daedra & Dugan I have placed links to major posts within this thread too 'Slackware-Links'. More than just SlackwareŽ links! Great work done by both of you and well worth the placement to assist others. |
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By the way, I've uploaded new versions of the Ubuntu SlackBuilds. They now download the source files. I'm also trying out a new system: they untar their sources in /tmp/build/source, package them in /tmp/build/package, and output tgz files to /tmp/build/output. The old system made my /tmp directory too messy. Also, the names of the patches being applied are displayed in bold now. |
Hey dugan just an update, I decided not to mess with the xeffects patches because there pretty old and don't seem to be updated anymore, any between my original post and the firefox post and your ubuntu patches and shu-shee's patch for the original David Turner cleartype patch I think pretty much all the bases are covered, the biggest differences at this point would come from custom settings in fontconfig which I think we also supplied a pretty good base for :).
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Daedra: Do you know about the fir filter patch from Jinghua Luo? It's another freetype/cairo subpixel patch floating around which I've got tested - haven't used it anymore, because I like the config I have now.
I don't remember where I got it, so I put it at my place. |
Here are some more font SlackBuilds:
Mac FontsLucida Grande, Apple Garamond, etc. Sets the Sans, sans-serif and Serif aliases to the appropriate Mac fonts. If you have the Monaco font (not included) then it will use that for the Monospace alias. Microsoft's Core Fonts for the WebThe SlackBuild is all you need (it downloads the font archive). I haven't tested these very extensively, so feel free to report problems. |
If I might add another tip, if you want really crystal clear fonts, besides doing the above, if you have an LCD screen make sure to run at native resolution, that way the fonts are not blurred.
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I've implemented your solution for better font rendering on my Slackware 12.0 computer. There is an amazing difference in the quality of the fonts. This has been a worthwhile upgrade. I did run into one issue. When I logged into Hotmail I noticed that right after login Hotmail tells me to upgrade my browser (eg. IE 7, Firefox, etc.). I temporarily got around this by installing the UserAgent Switcher extension and changed my UserAgent settings. But I later noticed that there was a patch that is applied to the slackbuild script and this adds "Bluewhite64 12/1 " to the UserAgent string. I was able to change this without recompiling firefox by deleting that string from firefox.js located in "/usr/lib/firefox-3.0.1/defaults/pref/". The location may be different on your computer. Otherwise, this has been one of the most useful threads I've used.
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[QUOTE=dugan;3204590]I read, on the Arch Linux forums, about people taking Ubuntu's font patches and using them on Arch. I tried them on Slackware and the results are good! Are they better than the LCD patches that Daedra ported for us? I don't know. They're both good and the choice is tough:
Dugan these packages are superb,the best fonts have looked on my slackware installation ever well done. Just a small tip my fonts didn`t see much of a chnage until i completely rebooted my system just restarting x didn`t make much of a change thanks again todders |
I just found this thread, and did everything in 12. Amazing. I love the way everything looks now. Thank you Daedra.
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I am starting to wonder if when I tested the dugan ubuntu patches I did something wrong, could you post a screenshot so I can make a comparison. |
Strange things...
Installing that macfonts package created with slackbuild seems to have broken the new font rendering completely. The fonts look awful now :( Strange...
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Remove /etc/fonts/conf.d/10-macfonts.conf, run fc-cache -f -v, and restart X. That will get your Sans, Serif and Monospace aliases back the way they were, and you'll still have the Mac fonts available.
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Then the Mac fonts weren't at fault, were they?
Sounds like you just don't like the way the new font rendering looks :). Just stick with the default Slackware packages then. If you want to continue investigating, then you need a) mention which set of font packages you're using, b) post the contents of your fontconfig config file (.fonts.conf or local.conf), and c) post a screenshot of the "broken" font rendering. That will help us understand what your situation is. |
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If you're using the Ubuntu packages then try deleting 30-metric-aliases.conf from /etc/fonts/conf.d. I'm not an expert at reading Fontconfig files, but this one appears to override font choices. I would consider that a bad thing.
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Here's a screenshot of what my desktop currently looks like.
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hello here is also a screen shot of my current desktop..
http://www.esnips.com/doc/aaabb763-7...d7df/slackware regards todders |
Todders,
I can only view the little thumbnail on that website. If I click on Large or Original Size, the small image disappears and some obnoxious flash add pops up. |
Hi,
Bruce, You are going to the Olympics? What about the Chinese attempt to control the environmental problems before and during the games? I know it's off topic but just curious to get some info from someone who is over there. I know China is a big country but. |
The people on the Gentoo forums have been making their own font packages:
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-511382.html (start at the end and work backwards). Nowadays, they store their font ebuilds on the devnull overlay. I converted them to SlackBuilds. Their ebuilds can compile for either Cleartype-style or Ubuntu-style subpixel rendering, and so can these SlackBuilds. By default, they'll build for Ubuntu-style rendering. If you want Cleartype-style rendering, then do the following before installing all 4: Code:
export USE=cleartype Code:
unset USE 2. Fontconfig Previous versions of the Fontconfig SlackBuild had an extra configuration file that set the sans, serif and monospace alias to Liberation fonts. I suspect this file was largely responsible for the "Thanks Dugan, that looks AWESOME!" reactions I kept getting :). I'm making available, separately, a version of the file that sets the sans, serif and monospace alias to Droid fonts instead: 35-droid.conf Before reinstalling Fontconfig, I recommend deleting /etc/fonts. After installing it, I recommend the following steps:
3. libXft 4. Cairo I'm happily using these with Ubuntu-style rendering. As for Cleartype-style rendering, well, it compiles. :) And here's a SlackBuild for a Firefox that respects subpixel rendering settings. It's outdated, but it should work with the latest version of Firefox if you bump the VERSION. 5. Firefox |
Thanks again Dugan...
I just updated to your new font setup and my fonts are great! One thing to note I had to build the newest pixman package for my machine from the cairo site before i could get cairo to compile on a vanilla slack 12.1 setup. I just used the link provided in the failed build attempt for the cairo slackbuild. In a side by side comparison my Slack fonts are as good if not better then the Ubuntu fonts on my laptop! P.S - I have yet to try the new Slackbuild Firefox, I am currently using the slacky build and things still look great. |
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I find some launch feedback helpful to prevent double-clicking. Go to KDE control center > Appearance & Themes > Launch Feedback and set the time out lower. I set it to 3 seconds and unchecked the Taskbar Notification. I find it annoying to continue longer anyway. The Firefox problem is apparently due to compiling without the --enable-startup-notification option. I couldn't find a reason why the Mozilla binaries are not being compiled with it. Perhaps Pat will have to start compiling his own? https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=416053 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=425934 It appears that this is part of 'session restore' that is new in Firefox 3? Quote:
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Thanks! |
I just got 12.2 installed and I am experimenting with somethings right now. Should have a new post in a day or two. I plan on doing two this time one for cleartype sux-pixel rendering and one for traditional non-AA fonts.
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- recompiled freetype using Pat's build script (with the appropriate lines uncommented) - used this patch for cairo: http://aur.archlinux.org/packages/ca...d-filter.patch - and used the same libXft patch Daedra posted Everything looks good. :) |
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I have been following the various threads on optimising fonts for LCD and I must say that there has been some great work put in by several people, particularly Daedra and Dugan who posted links to necessary files.
I guess that these patches have been test now by many people on Slackware and therefore any regressions should have been identified by this stage. My question here is therefore: are we going to see any of these LCD optimisations appearing in 'official Slackware' and do we know what the views of Pat and his co-developers are on this?. Bill. |
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