Re: Font Configuration Applet

[Sebastian Kapfer <s kapfer_usenet gmx net>]

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 21:24:16 -0500, Andrew Johnson wrote:

> Also the details I DO need to use sometimes, because of RGB order(some
> screens rgb order is inverted/off) and DPI(x.org dpi detection and
> setting is broken - not something you can wish away because it might
> confuse the user).

BTW, the DPI setting is nuts anyway.  I'm running the same GNOME setup on
different machines which of course have different DPI numbers.  I've set
up the X servers with the correct DisplaySizes, but found no way (UI or
GConf) to tell GNOME to leave my XFT DPI settings alone.  Instead, I had
to patch settings-daemon to stop messing with it.  Sorry if I missed
something obvious.

So, I think the DPI stuff should be made machine-specific and belongs into
the RANDR applet anyway (with a _GUI_ option to turn it off, or at least
defaulting to _off_!)

Since GNOME cares so much about novice users and a11y, it could have a
"zoom factor" (better term needed here probably) in the fonts capplet;
needless to say this one defaults to _one_.  (It could also default to a
theme-defined number, so that themes for people with limited vision could
automatically deal with it, automatically scaling the whole desktop).

Zoom factors are more familiar than DPI to the average computer user.
Furthermore it's the right nomenclature anyway -- DPI is not something
GNOME imposes on the display unit;  DPI is either a constant (for LCDs at
native resolution) or depends strongly on the resolution (CRTs).

So, I'm proposing the following config options:

a) Override display DPI -- defaulting to off, machine-specific, exposed in
resolution capplet

b) Magnification factor for fonts, icons and other important stuff in the
UI -- defaulting to "whatever the current metatheme says or 1.0"

gnome-settings-daemon would then use the following algorithm to calculate
XFT DPI numbers:

if (gconf_override_dpi)
	dpi = gconf_user_dpi
else
	dpi = xserver_dpi

if (gconf_override_mag) {
	mag = gconf_user_mag
} else {
	if (metatheme_has_mag)
		mag = metatheme_mag
	else
		mag = 1.0
}

xft_dpi = dpi * mag

This does not handle Xinerama setups with unequal DPIs in any way, as I
currently don't know how that is supposed to work.  It's still better than
the status quo IMHO.

Any personal attacks in the above are unintended.  I'm not a native
speaker.

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