Font-antialias is not working?

tpe · October 5, 2022, 8:53am

Hello,
I moved to tumbleweed a few weeks ago, fresh installation.
I use my old /home since it was on another disk.

My problem: Font rendering, is awful. Of course the in KDE settings I have enabled the Antialias (by disabling it, logging out login and enable, logout and login again).
I also have a ~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf file which is the same as in the last 10 years (when I fixed it in the then openSUSE installation and then never touched it again).

Searching around seems like Tumbleweed doesn’t need any special repository with other than the default font rendering libraries, but in my case this is not working!

For reference, what I have in the ~[FONT=monospace]/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf[/FONT]:


<?xml version="1.0"?> 
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd"> 
<fontconfig> 
 <match target="font" > 
  <edit mode="assign" name="rgba" > 
   <const>rgb</const> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 
 <match target="font" > 
  <edit mode="assign" name="hinting" > 
   <bool>true</bool> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 
 <match target="font" > 
  <edit mode="assign" name="hintstyle" > 
   <const>hintmedium</const> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 
 <match target="font" > 
  <edit mode="assign" name="antialias" > 
   <bool>true</bool> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 
 <match target="font" > 
  <edit mode="assign" name="lcdfilter" > 
   <const>lcddefault</const> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 
 <match target="font"> 
         <edit mode="assign" name="autohint"> 
                 <bool>true</bool> 
         </edit> 
 </match> 
</fontconfig>

I would appreciate if someone pointed me what I should do to fix this.

hcvv · October 5, 2022, 9:17am

As you used your existing home directory (which is in /home that you re-used unaltered) many setting will be of the system it was lastly used on (which you do not specify).

To test if it is related to old configs, you could create a new user and see how it works there.

tpe · October 5, 2022, 5:06pm

Just to summarize what I have tested:

Create new user, setup antialias/subpixel from the KDE config page
Disable antialias/subpixel from the KDE config page, use only the /home/$USER/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf settings
Enable [FONT=monospace]antialias/subpixel from the KDE config page, do not use the /home/$USER/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf settings
Copy the [/FONT][FONT=monospace][FONT=monospace][FONT=monospace]/home/$USER/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf to the [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]/etc/fonts/local.conf
Use different fonts (like for example Arial).

So far nothing works. The old repos I was using with Leap (either bran0k or namtrac) don’t have subpixel packages anymore.

I feel quite desperate to be honest and I would hate to abandon Suse/openSUSE after almost 26 years!

swannema · October 5, 2022, 6:39pm

Try Ubuntu fonts (available via zypper/yast), they make quiet a difference. If you are still not happy, you can take a look at the settings that are being used in GeckoLinux (based on TW). I was forced to reinstall my system last week and actually I am pretty happy how it looks with the Ubuntu fonts /antialias aktiv/subpixel rendering- rgb/hinting-slight.

tpe · October 5, 2022, 7:38pm

Actually right Now is pretty much unusable.
I installed and used the yast-font (BIG mistake) and now everything is like we are back in the 80s.

I use the same settings as in my Fedora (which has the same version of freetype) and in Tumbleweed is…

I will install aids to see which files are modified by fast and then remove them. Then we will see.

tpe · October 6, 2022, 6:59am

Having half of the desktop with Ubuntu fonts, like for example Kate/KWrite etc and the rest (like FF for example) of it with ugly, tiresome fonts from the 80’s is not ideal.

I managed to restore my previous (still ugly) setup, but at least now I will check if I can make it better somehow, otherwise I know the solution: Fedora.

brunomcl · October 6, 2022, 9:26am

Perhaps you’re not using your monitor’s native resolution? This can lead to ugly artifacts.

tpe · October 11, 2022, 11:17am

That could be a case if I had issues with Leap 15.2.
Besides, working with linux for 25+ I think I would know a couple of things about resolutions etc.

Simply speaking, it’s Tumbleweed and it’s libraries. I booted the old disk with Leap 15.2 and everything was OK.

brunomcl · October 13, 2022, 12:01am

But it could be an issue with the upgrade. Breaking (literally) news for you: not everything works the same between versions!

I stand humbled. I’ve only used openSUSE since version 10 (it was called SUSE then, IINM) so, a relative newbie.

Thank you for the simple explanation, I thing I got it. https://forums.opensuse.org/images/icons/icon7.png

Good luck for you.

conram · October 13, 2022, 3:06am

Not sure what’s affecting the op.

I’ve saw this in the tumbleweed snapshot, I’m not expert but any hint if this is related.

Packages changed:   filesystem   glibc   ispell (3.4.00 -> 3.4.05)   systemd (251.4 -> 251.5)   virt-viewer   xz (5.2.6 -> 5.2.7)
 === Details ===
 ==== filesystem ====
 - Update /usr/etc/skel per XDG Directory Specification:   * Add .local/bin to eventually replace bin for user executable     files   * Use .local/share/fonts instead of .fonts for user specific fonts   * Add missing dirs: .local/share .local/state

You can try also the font hintstyle in yast2-sysconfig editor.