Re: New font defaults for new users - feedback wanted!

[Bastian Venthur <expires-2006@venthur.de>]

Christopher Martin wrote:

> On April 8, 2005 03:22, Bastian Venthur wrote:
>> I think someone has forgotten to set the fontsizes right - there are all
>> a bi too small
> 
> These defaults are pretty much the same as used by GNOME (which is pretty
> good at setting defaults, but they also by default render fonts at 96 DPI,
> which KDE, alas, does not), and they look fine here, and on the few other
> displays I've tested. Of course, many users have _very_ different
> displays, so I really, really want feedback and comments on these new
> defaults (positive or negative), so that if they're not suitable, I can
> adjust them before KDE 3.4 enters unstable.

I think you have a tough job adjusting the fonts, since it heavily depents
on the dpi-setting of the system. The main problem here (often heard in
debian.user.german) is, that kdm uses 75dpi by default but startx starts
with 100dpi. The user is disturbed askes his local newsgroup, "why are my
fonts/icons sometimes soo big/small)", where he gets told to set the dpi to
something which you can calculate by your display size and resolution.

But i *think* kde itself is kind of optimized to 75dpi (the icons on the
desktop are a good example), therefore i think it would be the best to
assume the average user works under 75dpi. (I'm not shure about this point
but every live-cd I've tested works with 75dpi no matter wich display I
use). 

> 
>> and i *think* in the kde-default there also not all of the same size.
> 
> Hmmm, could you explain what you mean here?

I mean the font-sizes for toolbar, fixed-font and so on. Compare the old
default and the new one by size:

---old---       ---new---
Helevetica 12   sans serif 10
courier 12      monospace 10
Helevetica 10   sans serif 10   <-
Helevetica 12   sans serif 10
Helevetica 12   sans serif 10
Helevetica 11   sans serif 10   <-
Helevetica 12   sans serif 10


BTW I think it's pretty annoying (to be least offending ;) -- that there is
still a difference in the dpi-setting if you're starting via kdm or manualy
via startx. There is no question asked in the installation of xserver or
kdm where you could set you dpi. I know, kinda OT but this dpi-issue is one
you hear kinda often in debian.user.$language.



> Thanks,
> Christopher Martin

Hope this helps a bit

Bastian