Fontconfig - Nov 2005 - fontconfig with non-local Xserver

Le sam 06/12/2003 ? 01:18, wrstuden@wasabisystems.com a ?crit
:
> I recently updated some packages on a lab machine, and now some of the X
> programs are using fontconfig. While fontconfig looks much more
> sophisticated than the older font locating tools, it unfortunately assumes
> the fonts are local. Thus these programs don''t run anymore.
> 
> I can''t run fc-cache, because there aren''t any fonts on
the box.
> Installing fonts on the box just to run fc-cache seems silly and
> counter-productive, as the X server will be using the fonts installed on
> it, not the ones on this box. Also, it doesn''t scale well, as it
means
> that I have to install (and maintain) fonts on all the boxes I have, as
> opposed to just the Xserver.
Most (all?) applications using fontconfig are rendering their fonts with
freetype, and it requires having the fonts on the *client* side.
Installing fonts on the same boxes as the applications is not
counter-productive, it is necessary for these applications to run.

Regards,
-- 
 .''''`.           Josselin Mouette        /\./\
: :'' :           josselin.mouette@ens-lyon.org
`. `''                        joss@debian.org
  `-  Debian GNU/Linux -- The power of freedom
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Hi,

=E5=9C=A8 2003-12-06 Sat =E7=9A=84 08:18=EF=BC=8C wrstuden@wasabisystems.com
=E5=86=99=E9=81=93=EF=BC=9A
> I recently updated some packages on a lab machine, and now some of the X
> programs are using fontconfig. While fontconfig looks much more
> sophisticated than the older font locating tools, it unfortunately assumes
> the fonts are local. Thus these programs don''t run anymore.
>=20
> I can''t run fc-cache, because there aren''t any fonts on
the box.
> Installing fonts on the box just to run fc-cache seems silly and
> counter-productive, as the X server will be using the fonts installed on
> it, not the ones on this box. Also, it doesn''t scale well, as it
means
> that I have to install (and maintain) fonts on all the boxes I have, as
> opposed to just the Xserver.
>=20
> So what can I do about this?
You may simply export a NFS mount point, from where you put the fonts.

Also, in my understanding, fontconfig should automatically regen. the
cache by comp. the dir mtime. Do I getting amything wrong?

Regards,
Zarick Lau

Bill,

WS> Installing fonts on the box just to run fc-cache seems silly and
WS> counter-productive, as the X server will be using the fonts installed on
WS> it, not the ones on this box. 

There''s a misunderstanding here.  Xft uses client-side fonts: all
rendering is done on the client, and the X-server is just used for
pushing pixmaps around.  Counterintuitive as it seems, this is much
more efficient than server-side fonts as soon as fonts have a lot of
glyphs (as modern fonts tend to do).  It is also the only sane way to
support complex typography (Arabic etc.)

WS> Also, it doesn''t scale well, as it means that I have to install
WS> (and maintain) fonts on all the boxes I have, as opposed to just
WS> the Xserver.

Eventually, when core fonts are gone, you''ll only have to install
fonts on the one machine that runs X clients, and not on every single
X terminal.

Currently, however, you do indeed need to install fonts on both the
server (for applications that still use core fonts) and the client
(for applications that use Xft).  Using a font server on the machine
running the clients might simplify things -- but I don''t recommend it.
Remote-mounting fonts over NFS or Samba might be a better idea.

                                        Juliusz

I recently updated some packages on a lab machine, and now some of the X
programs are using fontconfig. While fontconfig looks much more
sophisticated than the older font locating tools, it unfortunately assumes
the fonts are local. Thus these programs don''t run anymore.

I can''t run fc-cache, because there aren''t any fonts on the
box.
Installing fonts on the box just to run fc-cache seems silly and
counter-productive, as the X server will be using the fonts installed on
it, not the ones on this box. Also, it doesn''t scale well, as it means
that I have to install (and maintain) fonts on all the boxes I have, as
opposed to just the Xserver.

So what can I do about this?

Take care,

Bill