Ubuntu
xfce4-settings package

inconsistent font settings across all applications

Bug #642004 reported by Johann Philipp Strathausen
18
This bug affects 4 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
xfce4-settings (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Wishlist
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: xfce4-settings

When setting fonts via the XFCE settings dialog, e.g. to a different font and different hinting or aliasing, the fonts in other applications remain different, sometimes with different font sizes, types, or hinting.

This affects applications like Firefox, Chrome or Skype. I've had this problem since years and still need to hack into different font configuration files (Xresources, mozilla chrome-css, xsettings, etc...).

Here are the steps that I took to achieve the screenshot below:

1. Do a fresh install of Xubuntu Maveric (but I have encountered this behaviour also with Karmic and Lucid).
2. Open up Xfce settings and set the font to full hinting, disable font aliasing. (Not really needed: install and select Arial)
3. Launch Firefox, Chrome, Skype.

The screenshot has been made with Maveric Alpha development branch and xfce-settings version 4.6.5-2.

However, I have seen this in different Xfce and Ubuntu versions and numerous posts on the internet seem to confirm that this is a common issue.

Thanks a lot for any help.

See original description
Tags: xubuntu
Johann Philipp Strathausen (strathausen)
description: updated
Revision history for this message
Johann Philipp Strathausen (strathausen) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek) wrote :

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Unfortunately, we cannot work on this bug because your description didn't include enough information. You may find it helpful to read "How to report bugs effectively" http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html. We'd be grateful if you would then provide a more complete description of the problem.

At a minimum, we need:
1. the specific steps or actions you took that caused you to encounter the problem.
2. The release of Ubuntu you are using, via 'lsb_release -rd'.
3. The version of the package you are using, via 'apt-cache policy package_name' or by checking in Synaptic.

tags: added: xubuntu
removed: chrome firefox font hinting skype xfce
Changed in xfce4-settings (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Johann Philipp Strathausen (strathausen) wrote :

Sorry, I didn't consider this information because it happened to me on different versions of Ubuntu and Xfce. I currently use Maveric and Xfce 4.6.5-2.

description: updated
Revision history for this message
Johann Philipp Strathausen (strathausen) wrote :

I have found a work-around for the issue. I have created a file named ~/.fonts.conf with the following content:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
  <match target="font">
    <edit name="antialias" mode="assign"><bool>false</bool></edit>
  </match>
  <match target="font">
    <edit name="hintstyle" mode="assign"><const>hintfull</const></edit>
  </match>
  <match target="font" >
   <edit mode="assign" name="hinting" ><bool>true</bool></edit>
  </match>
</fontconfig>

Now I have full hinting and no antialiasing in FF, Chrome, Skype, OO... but I'll always have to change that file.

Revision history for this message
Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek) wrote :

Thanks for reporting this bug and any supporting documentation. Since this bug has enough information provided for a developer to begin work, I'm going to mark it as confirmed and let them handle it from here. Thanks for taking the time to make Ubuntu better!

Changed in xfce4-settings (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Low
status: Incomplete → Triaged
Revision history for this message
Lionel Le Folgoc (mrpouit) wrote :

Hi,

Is it still reproducible with Xfce 4.8.x?
Thanks.

Changed in xfce4-settings (Ubuntu):
status: Triaged → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

[Expired for xfce4-settings (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

Changed in xfce4-settings (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Expired
Revision history for this message
Matthew Mott (orbweaver) wrote :

Reproduced on a clean install of Xubuntu 11.10. The font hinting and anti-aliasing settings chosen in Settings Manager do not propagate to Firefox without the manual creation of a ~/.fonts.conf.

Changed in xfce4-settings (Ubuntu):
status: Expired → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
David (david-helf) wrote :

Same problem here on Xubuntu 11.10.
With default settings, the font in Firefox is very blurred, for me absolutely unusable (I use Xubuntu at work).
The settings manager doesen't affect Firefox font settings, after I updated fonts.conf the fonts in Firefox are fine.
I think this ticket should have a higher priority.

Revision history for this message
Lionel Le Folgoc (mrpouit) wrote :

Apparently fixed upstream in xfce4-settings 4.9 with the new fontconfig monitoring.

Changed in xfce4-settings (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Triaged
Revision history for this message
Lionel Le Folgoc (mrpouit) wrote :

Meh, no it's not fixed after all.

no longer affects: xfce4-settings
Changed in xfce4-settings (Ubuntu):
status: Triaged → Confirmed
Lionel Le Folgoc (mrpouit)
Changed in xfce4-settings (Ubuntu):
importance: Low → Wishlist
Revision history for this message
Theo Linkspfeifer (lastonestanding) wrote :

Was this eventually fixed?

Changed in xfce4-settings (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Theo Linkspfeifer (lastonestanding)
Changed in xfce4-settings (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Invalid
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