What to install to have glyphs and proper fonts in NetBSD

netbsdnoob

Hello everyone I installed lsd after having seen one of the screen from @pin but I don't understand why on my NetBSD with xterm I cannot see the fancy icons I can see on my GNU/Linux machine with alacritty.

Is it a missing font problem right? What should I install and how do I configure xterm to have those fonts?

Actually I had missing glyphs also with emacs although I did the whole install-all-fonts to ge tthe doomline working.
So I am missing something I guess.

JuvenalUrbino

It's all about LOCALE settings. What you want is to enable unicode (UTF-8) support in all your applications (opensource applications unfortunately aren't very consistent in how they handle those settings).

For xterm, you need to put this in inside ~/.Xrersources:

XTerm*locale:                   true                   

XTerm*utf8:                     true                   

XTerm*utf8Title:                true
XTerm*termName:                 xterm-256color
XTerm*eightBitInput:            false

You'll also need:

LANG="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_CTYPE="en_US.UTF-8"
CONFIG_CHARSET=UTF-8
TERM=xterm-256color
COLORTERM=${TERM}

To be added to your ~/.profile (or whatever script your shell parses upon startup), as well as your ~/.xinitrc or ~/.xsession script (depending on you're using XDM or not).q

JuvenalUrbino It's all about LOCALE settings.

Not only actually.
You need to install a NerdFont also.

I don't bother packaging these as the full package is MASSIVE.
Just pick the one you fancy from https://www.nerdfonts.com/ unpack them and place the relevant files in the correct place.

Don't forget to tell your terminal to use them.

rvp

JuvenalUrbino For xterm, you need to put this in inside ~/.Xrersources:

According to Tom Dickey, even those settings are not needed if the locale is set to any UTF-8 one:

sending/receiving UTF-8 characters from terminal to program
Setting keyboard layout on xterm

JuvenalUrbino

pin You need to install a NerdFont also.

Sorry, I thought OP was referring to common UTF-8 glyphs, which are supported by all iso10646-1 compliant fonts.

JuvenalUrbino

@netbsdnoob as a bonus, here are my Xresources settings for XTerm:

! ===== General ====
Xft*dpi:		96
Xft*autohint:		0
Xft*antialias:		1
Xft*hinting:		1   

Xft*rgba:		rgb
*utf8:			1
*.font:			-misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed--13-120-75-75-c-60-iso10646-1
*.fontList:		-misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed--13-120-75-75-c-60-iso10646-1
*.boldFont:		-misc-fixed-bold-r-semicondensed--13-120-75-75-c-60-iso10646-1

! ===== Colors ====
! Light theming
!XTerm*background:	#cecece
!XTerm*foreground:	#101010
! Dark theming
XTerm*background:	#2e3436
XTerm*foreground:	#d8d8d8

! Black
XTerm*color0:	#000000
XTerm*color8:	#666666
! Red
XTerm*color1:	#9e1828
XTerm*color9:	#cf6171
! Green
XTerm*color2:	#aece92
XTerm*color10:	#c5f779
! Yellow
XTerm*color3:	#968a38
XTerm*color11:	#fff796
! Blue
XTerm*color4:	#414171
XTerm*color12:	#4186be
! Magenta
XTerm*color5:	#963c59
XTerm*color13:	#cf9ebe
!Cyan
XTerm*color6:	#418179
XTerm*color14:	#71bebe
! White
XTerm*color7:	#bebebe
XTerm*color15:	#ffffff

! ===== Xterm ====
XTerm*title:                    XTerm
XTerm*name:                     XTerm
XTerm*geometry:                 92x34
XTerm*locale:                   true
XTerm*utf8:                     true
XTerm*utf8Title:                true
XTerm*termName:                 xterm-256color
XTerm*iconHint:                 XTerm.xpm
XTerm*eightBitInput:            false
XTerm*scrollBar:                false
XTerm*rightScrollBar:           true
XTerm*scrollbar.width:          8
XTerm*multiScroll:              on
XTerm*jumpScroll:               on
XTerm*scrollTtyOutput:          true
XTerm*scrollKey:                true
XTerm*saveLines:                16384
XTerm*loginshell:               true
XTerm*maximized:                false
XTerm*vt100.backarrowKey:       false
XTerm*ttyModes:                 erase ^?
XTerm*borderWidth:              0
XTerm*internalBorder:           3
XTerm*allowBoldFonts:           false
XTerm*fontMenu*font2*Label:     Tiny
XTerm*font:			 -misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed--13-120-75-75-c-60-iso10646-1
XTerm*font2:                    7x13
XTerm*vt100.renderFont:         true
XTerm*faceName:                 fixed:pixelsize=13
XTerm.vt100.faceSize1:		 9
XTerm.vt100.faceSize2:		 10
XTerm.vt100.faceSize3:		 11
XTerm.vt100.faceSize4:		 12
XTerm.vt100.faceSize5:		 13
XTerm.vt100.faceSize6:		 14
XTerm.vt100.faceSize7:		 15
XTerm*charClass:                33:48,36-47:48,58-59:48,61:48,63-64:48,95:48,126:48
XTerm*on2Clicks:                word
XTerm*on3Clicks:                line
XTerm.vt100.translations: #override \
    Ctrl <Key>M: maximize() \n\
    Ctrl <Key>R: restore() \n\
    Ctrl Alt <Key>S: secure() \n\
    Ctrl <KeyPress> minus: smaller-vt-font() \n\
    Ctrl <KeyPress> plus: larger-vt-font() \n\
    Alt <KeyPress> C: select-end(CLIPBOARD,PRIMARY,CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
    Alt <KeyPress> V: insert-selection(CLIPBOARD,PRIMARY,CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
    Shift <Btn1Up>: exec-formatted("w3m '%t",PRIMARY)

It sets a less saturated color palette, and among other things, enables unicode Xft, and copy-pasting with Alt-c/Alt-v.

oui

JuvenalUrbino *.font: -misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed--13-120-75-75-c-60-iso10646-1

Good taste.

JuvenalUrbino I switched from the default Xorg fixed font to JetBrains

Oh, nevermind.

JuvenalUrbino

So, I decided to install some nerd fonts, in particular the Nerd version of JetBrains Mono, which is a font I always liked:

$ pkgin in nerd-fonts-JetBrainsMono
$ fc-cache -frv

I switched from the default Xorg fixed font to JetBrains in ~/.Xresources

XTerm*faceName:                  JetBrainsMono Nerd Font Mono:style=Medium:size=11

After which I reloaded the X resource database:

$ xrdb ~/.Xresources

I downloaded the the test-fonts.sh script from the nerd-fonts project github page. The icons are nicely displayed in XTerm.

JuvenalUrbino Yes, of course it works in xterm.
Actually, xterm has more features than what one could think to begin with.

I prefer more bare-bones terminals without going as far as st. xterm has lot of features I don't need.

netbsdnoob

JuvenalUrbino Thanks i installed the packages as @pin also suggested. Now it seems to work.

I should probably add that, for a few packages, e.g. wthrr, you will also need noto-fonts and noto-emoji-ttf in order to get the full eye candy.

I haven't added these to the package Makefile (case of wthrr) because the application does function without these, it simply does not display some of the glyphs.

kim

We also have the C.UTF-8 locale for those that are not fond of the “phone book sort order” of en_US.

LANG=C.UTF-8

There should be no need to set LC_CTYPE if you want it to have the same value as set for LANG.

See nls(7) for more information. It does not explain LANG and LC_ALL clearly enough, though. LANG is the default for all the LC_* variables and LC_ALL is an override you would typically never use.

JuvenalUrbino

kim Thank you, locale categories and how they work is something I never really bothered enough to understand. But this thread has valuable insights!

rvp

kim We also have the C.UTF-8 locale for those that are not fond of the “phone book sort order” of en_US.

Or, add a export LC_COLLATE=C--except on NetBSD, where you can't set it to anything else 😃.

netbsdnoob a question, once i installed for example the jetbrains font, when i did the fc-cache to update the whole. Anyway i cannot find the font if I do:
fc-list | grep -i jetbrains
or
fc-list | grep -i nerd

Install the font into one of the standard search dirs. Eg:

$ unzip -qd ~/.local/share/fonts/JetBrains JetBrainsMono-2.304.zip
$ fc-cache -frv

netbsdnoob Given a font how do i know which string I have to insert in the .Xresources?

Let's say you want the standard monospace font:

$ fc-list | fgrep JetBrains | fgrep 'style=Regular'
/home/rvp/.local/share/fonts/JetBrains/fonts/variable/JetBrainsMono[wght].ttf: JetBrains Mono:style=Regular
/home/rvp/.local/share/fonts/JetBrains/fonts/ttf/JetBrainsMono-Regular.ttf: JetBrains Mono:style=Regular
/home/rvp/.local/share/fonts/JetBrains/fonts/ttf/JetBrainsMonoNL-Regular.ttf: JetBrains Mono NL:style=Regular
/home/rvp/.local/share/fonts/JetBrains/fonts/webfonts/JetBrainsMono-Regular.woff2: JetBrains Mono:style=Regular
$ xterm -fa 'JetBrains Mono:style=Regular'

netbsdnoob

@JuvenalUrbino @pin a question, once i installed for example the jetbrains font, when i did the fc-cache to update the whole. Anyway i cannot find the font if I do:
fc-list | grep -i jetbrains
or
fc-list | grep -i nerd

So, first question, why? Second question how can i print the full list of fonts available?

Given a font how do i know which string I have to insert in the .Xresources?

netbsdnoob So, first question, why?

Case sensitive, it's J and N.

netbsdnoob Second question how can i print the full list of fonts available?

You must be joking, right?
You already know that ... fc-list 😆

skip the pipe to grep.

JuvenalUrbino

pin Case sensitive, it's J and N.

OP was using grep -i which makes it case-insensitive.

netbsdnoob once i installed for example the jetbrains font, when i did the fc-cache to update the whole [..]

Just spawn a new terminal.

netbsdnoob Given a font how do i know which string I have to insert in the .Xresources?

rvp fc-list | fgrep JetBrains | fgrep 'style=Regular'

And this is for TrueType (and Type1?) fonts. Xlib/Motif fonts instead will normally use bitmap '.pcf' fonts stored inside the X server's fontpath (unless they were build with Xft/fontconfig).

xset q | grep -A1 Path reveals the current X11 font path.

One may use xset +fp to add a new directory to the X server's font path:

XDG_DATA_HOME=~/.local/share
PKG_DATA_DIR=/usr/pkg/share

for dir in $(find ${XDG_DATA_HOME}/fonts/ -type d) ; do 
    xset +fp $dir
done

for dir in $(find ${PKG_DATA_DIR}/fonts/X11 -type d) ; do 
    xset +fp $dir
done

xset fp rehash

This can be put inside ~/.xinitrc.

Now, the xlsfonts(1) command can be used to query the X fonts database, and see how X11 defines those fonts for Xlib/Motif app to use. Font packages providing both .ttf and .pcf font formats will be displayed inside both the fontconfig database and the X11 font database:

~ $ xlsfonts | grep tamzen
-misc-tamzen-bold-r-normal--0-0-100-100-c-0-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-bold-r-normal--12-87-100-100-c-60-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-bold-r-normal--13-94-100-100-c-70-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-bold-r-normal--14-101-100-100-c-70-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-bold-r-normal--15-108-100-100-c-80-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-bold-r-normal--16-116-100-100-c-80-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-bold-r-normal--20-145-100-100-c-100-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-bold-r-normal--9-65-100-100-c-50-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-medium-r-normal--0-0-100-100-c-0-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-medium-r-normal--12-87-100-100-c-60-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-medium-r-normal--13-94-100-100-c-70-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-medium-r-normal--14-101-100-100-c-70-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-medium-r-normal--15-108-100-100-c-80-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-medium-r-normal--16-116-100-100-c-80-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-medium-r-normal--20-145-100-100-c-100-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzen-medium-r-normal--9-65-100-100-c-50-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-bold-r-normal--0-0-100-100-c-0-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-bold-r-normal--12-87-100-100-c-60-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-bold-r-normal--13-94-100-100-c-70-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-bold-r-normal--14-101-100-100-c-70-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-bold-r-normal--15-108-100-100-c-80-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-bold-r-normal--16-116-100-100-c-80-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-bold-r-normal--20-145-100-100-c-100-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-bold-r-normal--9-65-100-100-c-50-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-medium-r-normal--0-0-100-100-c-0-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-medium-r-normal--12-87-100-100-c-60-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-medium-r-normal--13-94-100-100-c-70-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-medium-r-normal--14-101-100-100-c-70-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-medium-r-normal--15-108-100-100-c-80-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-medium-r-normal--16-116-100-100-c-80-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-medium-r-normal--20-145-100-100-c-100-iso8859-1
-misc-tamzenforpowerline-medium-r-normal--9-65-100-100-c-50-iso8859-1

~ $ fc-list | grep Tamzen
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/BDF/Tamzen8x15r.bdf: Tamzen:style=Regular
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/BDF/Tamzen8x16r.bdf: Tamzen:style=Regular
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/BDF/Tamzen7x14b.bdf: Tamzen:style=Bold
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/BDF/Tamzen10x20b.bdf: Tamzen:style=Bold
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/BDF/Tamzen7x13b.bdf: Tamzen:style=Bold
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/BDF/TamzenForPowerline5x9b.bdf: TamzenForPowerline:style=Bold
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/PCF/TamzenForPowerline6x12b.pcf: TamzenForPowerline:style=Bold
/home/vins/.fonts/TamzenForPowerline5x9r.pcf: TamzenForPowerline:style=Regular
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/PCF/TamzenForPowerline7x13b.pcf: TamzenForPowerline:style=Bold
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/PCF/TamzenForPowerline7x14b.pcf: TamzenForPowerline:style=Bold
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/BDF/Tamzen10x20r.bdf: Tamzen:style=Regular
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/BDF/TamzenForPowerline5x9r.bdf: TamzenForPowerline:style=Regular
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/PCF/TamzenForPowerline8x15b.pcf: TamzenForPowerline:style=Bold
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/PCF/TamzenForPowerline8x16b.pcf: TamzenForPowerline:style=Bold
/home/vins/.fonts/Tamzen8x16b.bdf: Tamzen:style=Bold
/usr/pkg/share/fonts/X11/BDF/TamzenForPowerline8x15r.bdf: TamzenForPowerline:style=Regular

I always set a bitmap font inside ~/.Xresources for legacy applications without Xft support:

*.font:                 -chris2-sq-medium-r-normal--15-140-75-75-c-100-iso8859-1
*.fontList:             -chris2-sq-medium-r-normal--15-140-75-75-c-100-iso8859-1
*.boldFont:             -chris2-sq-bold-r-normal--15-140-75-75-c-100-iso8859-1

netbsdnoob

pin ok so the problem here is...

I installed the JetBrains font, and it is installed since in Xterm I get to see the glyphs with lsd.
But if I do fc-list I don't see any JetBrains font or Nerd font.

That's why my question was, is fc-list showing a partial list of fonts?

Actually this is still a mistery since xlsfonts also does not show me the mentioned fonts @JuvenalUrbino

I tried xset q | grep -A1 Path and it shows me this:

/usr/X11R7/lib/X11/fonts/misc/,/usr/X11R7/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/,/usr/X11R7/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/,/usr/X11R7/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/,/usr/X11R7/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/,built-ins
there are missing paths right? But then how does xterm find my fonts?

JuvenalUrbino OP was using grep -i which makes it case-insensitive.

Missed that, my bad.

rvp

JuvenalUrbino Font packages providing both .ttf and .pcf font formats will be displayed inside both the fontconfig database and the X11 font database:

Colour me surprised: people who make TTF fonts don't usually generate nice bitmap versions too. You can get X to do the conversion for you, but, the results are pretty ghastly-looking:

$ unzip -qd /tmp/J JetBrainsMono-2.304.zip
$ mkfontscale /tmp/J/fonts/ttf
$ mkfontdir /tmp/J/fonts/ttf
$ xset +fp /tmp/J/fonts/ttf
$ xlsfonts | fgrep jetbrains
$ xterm -fn '-misc-jetbrains mono-medium-r-normal-*-iso10646-1'

JuvenalUrbino

netbsdnoob I installed the JetBrains font, and it is installed since in Xterm I get to see the glyphs with lsd.
But if I do fc-list I don't see any JetBrains font or Nerd font.

How did you install it? Is the fontconfig path updated?

netbsdnoob Actually this is still a mistery since xlsfonts also does not show me the mentioned fonts

That was just an example for a font I installed.

netbsdnoob

JuvenalUrbino Hold on, I think i messed up my packages. First I want to fix something else I think i had some issue with the pkg database.

I deleted the whole /usr/pkg and /usr/pkgsrc and /var/db/pkgin.

Now I tried to start over and install only binaries fetched from the smartos website that somebody here linked (maybe you) from another post.

Once I set the PKG_PATH and try to do pkg_add pkgin I get:

can't read '/root/.gnupg/pubring.gpg' pkg_add: cannot read keyring: No such file or directory

What is this supposed to mean?

How do I fix it?