Some of the newer Linux distributions ship with the X font server xfs configured to run as a stand alone program. Notably, Redhat and all the redhat based distributions use this modularised xfs with TrueType compiled in. Debian also ship xfs, but the version they ship doesn't have built in true type support.
Running xfs as a stand alone server has several benefits, especially if it is compiled with TrueType support. The main advantage is that since the font server is no longer attached to the X server, it is possible to serve fonts to remote displays. Also, it makes it much easier to modify the font path.
The xfs Path
As a font server, xfs has it's own font path. One might wonder where this fits into the picture. It works like this: you can place the xfs font server in XFree86's font path, by adding unix/:port to the XFree86 font path. Once you do this, any font in the xfs font path automatically becomes available to XFree86.
The xfs font path is determined by the xfs configuration file, which is /etc/X11/fs/config on Redhat, and /etc/X11/xfs/config on Debian. Redhat users do not need to explicitly edit this file, they can use the chkfontpath utility. The syntax is simple:
chkfontpath --add directory
Users of other distributions can edit the configuration file as follows:
catalogue = /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc:unscaled,
...
/usr/share/fonts/my_new_fonts/,
...
/usr/share/fonts/some_other_directory
# in 12 points, decipoints
default-point-size = 120
...
The above would add /usr/share/fonts/my_new_fonts/ to the xfs font path. Note that the last line of the list of directories doesn't have a comma at the end. For these modifications to the font path to become effective, xfs must be restarted. It's also a good idea to restart your X session after restarting xfs.
Installing a Font Into xfs
To prepare a font for xfs, you need to follow the following steps:
If you don't have xfs installed, you need to install it.
Put the new fonts in a directory.
If you are installing Type1 fonts, prepare the new directory for the server by running type1inst in the directory.
If you are installing TrueType fonts, ( remember, not all distributions can do TrueType via xfs ! ), prepare the new directory for the server by running
ttmkfdir -o fonts.scale
mkfontdir
in the directory containing your new fonts. ttmkfdir is part of the freetype package.Now you can add the new directory to your xfs search path. Users of Redhat-like distributions can do this with the chkfontpath utility: Other users can do this by editing their xfs configuration file.
if xfs is already installed on your system, you should see which port it is running on. You can do this as follows:
ps ax|grep xfs
Then check your XFree86 font path.
xset -q
If your font path includes something like unix:/port_number were port_number is the port which the server is running on, then you already have xfs set up properly. Otherwise, you should add it to your XFree86 font path.
xset fp+ unix/:port_number
xset fp rehash
You can add it permanently by editing your .xinitrc as explained previously. To add it system wide, edit your XF86Config file ( probably either /etc/X11/XF86Config, /etc/XF86Config or /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config ), by adding a line FontPath "unix:/port_number" in the Files section. Here's an example:
...
Section "Files"
...
FontPath "unix/:-1"
...
EndSection
...
If xfs is already properly installed, then you can restart it like this:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/xfs restart
After restarting xfs, it's a good idea to restart your X-session.
Jordi Lapenya
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
El mié, 05 de 11 de 2003 a las 12:51, Alfons Nonell i Canals escribió:
Hola!
temps enrere, fa ja força mesos. Vaig fer, amb El Gimp, uns gràfics amb unes lletres que empraven una font anoenada babelfish. En aquelles èpoques treballava amb la Mandrake 8.2
Ara però, tinc un problema seriós. He de fer més gràfics com aquells però.. ara treballo amb RH 9. Com puc cercar aquella font i instal·lar-la al RH 9.0... no en tinc ni idea de com es fa i vaig una mica perdut...
Algú em pot donar un copet de mà si us plau?
Gràcies.
Salut i pau!
Alfons.
