Setting up X HOWTO

Hi all,

 

I am sure by now everyone on this list knows how to set up an XServer.  I have been trying to tweak my XServer settings to get the fonts to be better than Windows.  That is what I want. ; No Beryl eye candy just the best, sharpest fonts I can get. I am really psyched about the final results and thought I'd share.

 

1.) I downloaded and installed the microsoft fonts ;

2.) I start the Xserver from the console with the standard "startx" command.

3..) I have a /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc file which contains.

 #!/bin/sh

exec /usr/X11R6/bin/X –dpi 96 –nolisten tcp

 

I mistakenly thought this was enough to get fonts at a 96dpi; it wasn't.  I didn't know you also need to set xfs to 96dpi.  And that's when everything starts looking fabulous.

4.) I have a /etc/fonts/local.conf that contains:

<?xml version=&quot;1.0&quot;?>

<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "/etc/fonts/fonts.dtd">

<fontconfig>

 

<!-- Disable sub-pixel rendering.

 X detects it anyway, and if you set this as well, it just looks really horrible   -->

<match target=&quot;font&quot; >

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <edit mode=";assign&quot; name=";rgba" >

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;const>none</const>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  </edit>

 <;/match>

 <;match target=&quot;font&quot; >

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <edit mode=";assign&quot; name=";hinting&quot;>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;bool>true</bool>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  </edit>

 <;/match>

 <;match target=&quot;font&quot; >

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <edit mode=";assign&quot; name=";hintstyle&quot;>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;const>hintfull</const>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  </edit>

 <;/match>

 

<!-- The first part of the 'magic.'

 This makes the fonts start to look nice,

 but some of the shapes will be distorted, so hinting is needed still -->

 <;match target=&quot;font&quot; >

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <edit mode=";assign&quot; name=";antialias&quot;>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;bool>true</bool>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  </edit>

 <;/match>

 

<!-- Autohinter is not turned on automatically.

 Only disable this if you have recompiled Freetype with the bytecode interpreter,

 which is run automatically.<br />   -->

 <;match target=&quot;pattern&quot; >

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <edit mode=";assign&quot; name=";autohint&quot;>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;bool>true</bool>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  </edit>

 <;/match>

 <;match target=&quot;font&quot;>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;test name=";weight&quot; compare=&quot;more&quot;>

 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;   ;  <;const>medium</const>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;/test>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;edit name=";autohint&quot; mode=";assign&quot;>

 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;   ;  <;bool>false</bool>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;/edit>

 <;/match>

<!-- Helvetica is a non true type font, and will look bad.

 This replaces it with whatever is the default sans-serif font -->

 <;match target=&quot;pattern&quot; name=";family&quot; >

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <test name=";family&quot; qual=";any" >

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;string>Helvetica&lt;/string&gt;

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  </test>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <edit mode=";assign&quot; name=";family&quot; >

 &nbsp; &nbsp;   <;string>sans-serif&lt;/string&gt;

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  </edit>

 <;/match>

<match target=&quot;pattern&quot;>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <edit name=";dpi" mode=";assign&quot;><double>96</double></edit>

</match>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <dir&gt;/usr/local/lib/X11/fonts/artwiz-aleczapka/</dir>;

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <dir&gt;/usr/local/lib/X11/fonts/mscorefonts/</dir>

 &nbsp; &nbsp;  <dir&gt;/usr/local/lib/X11/fonts/ghostscript/</dir>

</fontconfig>

 

This local.conf was lifted from the archlinux wiki. ; It is at the very bottom of their configuring fonts page.

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