Re: Fonts providing emojis?
On 19/03/14 00:06, Dr. Jennifer Nussbaum wrote:
>
>
>> On Tuesday, March 18, 2014 8:19 AM, Scott Ferguson
>> <scott.ferguson.debian.user@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On 18/03/14 22:38, Dr. Jennifer Nussbaum wrote: What Debian font
>>> packages provide emojis?
>>
>> "apt-file" search and "apt-cache search" give nothing.
>>
>> Fortunately fontology is a hobby so I know it's part of Symbola.
>>
>>> At least, thats what i think they are. Ive seen messages with
>>> little rectangular boxes with "01f 44d" and "01f 1e7" in them,
>>> and some googling
>> suggests these are
>>> thumbs-up signs and things like that. How doe i get these to
>>> display?
>>>
>>> (Also how do i look these up? Literally. I google and get a bunch
>>> of random things, without very much work. If I know its some kind
>>> of font, what do i type? "01f 1e7 codepoint" or "01f 1e7
>> unicode" don't
>>> work.)
>>
>> Type in what? A search engine to find it?
>> https://www.google.com/search?q=emojis+filetype%3Attf
>
> That doesnt find anything.
Noted - which is why I included the second search URL.
"Also how do I look these things up" was the question I was answering,
though I'd already partially answered it.
*1st step*. Search the Debian repository for a package with that name
(or description) in the release you have installed:-
# apt-file search $foo
If that fails:-
*2nd step*. Search for Debian packages that include file with that name:-
$ apt-file search $foo
NOTE: if apt-file is not installed:-
# apt-get install apt-file
*3rd step*. If that fails, try a search engine, in this case I'd try
looking for a True Type Font first using the Google search parameter for
file type "filetype:$FileExtension (see examples elsewhere in this post).
If that fails, or you aren't searching for a know file type, refine your
search using "Debian" as a keyword to limit searches to Debian, the
name, and the type of thing it is e.g. "Debian emoji font" e.g.:-
https://www.google.com/search?q=Debian+emoji+font
Which will generally provide an answer (if it's a problem you want to
solve, search these lists first, Google second, and when using Google
add the keyword "solved" to find solutions).
>
>> Hint: https://www.google.com/search?q=Symbola+filetype%3Attf :)
>
> That does, but requires me to know the answer already.
No, it requires you to know how to ask the right question *in order to
find the answer to the question*. There's a difference. :)
> I guess my
> question is, "if i have a Twitter message with a rectangular box with
> "01f 1ey" in it, how do i figure out what that is?"
Part of asking the right question includes avoiding an x-y problem - by
understanding, and in this case, initially communicating, *what* you
want to do (read a Twitter message). That might mean (if you were trying
to solve the problem all on your own) right-clicking in Iceweasel on the
page and seeing what character set was in use (Page Info). That would
probably show UTF. Which might lead to you asking Google:-
https://www.google.com/search?q=unicode+font+codes
Which in turn might lead you to:-
http://www.unicode.org/charts/
Where entering the code "01f 1ey" might put you on the path to the answer.
Fortunately you took the smart path and asked on this list.
>
>
> [snipped]
>
>> # mkdir /usr/share/fonts/truetype/Symbola # cp Symbola.ttf
>> /usr/share/fonts/truetype/Symbola # mkfontscale
>> /usr/share/fonts/truetype/Symbola # mkfontdir
>> /usr/share/fonts/truetype/Symbola # ls
>> /usr/share/fonts/truetype/Symbola fonts.dir fonts.scale
>> Symbola.ttf
>>
>> Rinse and repeat for SymbolaGoomoji.ttf
>>
>> I use and highly recommend fontmatrix - a font
>> manager/viewer/wizard.
>
> Thanks for these instructions. Is it really the case tht there's no
> pre-built package for this in Debian?
Yes.
> These characters do seem to be
> increasingly widely used.
Agreed. I "guess" you're asking "why is the font not in the Debian
repository?"
Are their license issues? That would be my first though when considering
why they haven't been packaged yet.
If their isn't please consider filing a bugreport as it could be no one
has thought to ask (you can use reportbug to check).
$ reportbug
Choose "novice", then the "GTK interface", when you get to the type of
request choose "Prospective" (the options are described), followed by
"RFP" (request for package), then follow the remaining prompts.
>
> Jen
>
Kind regards
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