[PLUG] font rendering Re: gnome2-like behavior ...

[Keith Lofstrom]

On Fri, 20 Dec 2019 14:54:25 -0800
Keith Lofstrom <keithl at kl-ic.com> wrote:
> I plan to use gnome2-emulating Mate with newer distros
> (specifically, from Scientific Linux 6 to S.L.7, then to
> CentOS 8 someday).
> 
> However, I vaguely recall being told that gnome3 can be
> configured to behave very much like gnome2. 

Sadly, this seems to be very much NOT true.  I've spent the
last week trying to make either Gnome3 or Gnome classic or
Mate behave like I was used to, and failed.  Indeed, the
worst behavior was the text pixel rendering in an xterm.
After spending hours trying various frobs with fonts and
scaling and hinting, I could not make the characters crisp
and clean like gnome 2.

I use a pattern like this for rendering tests in xterms:

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888880
123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ
M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M

Cheesy ascii-art example for "mmMjÅ" characters in a
6*13 matrix on gnome2:

..............................
..........................█...
.........................█.█..
............█...█.....█...█...
██.█..██.█..██.██.........█...
█.█.█.█.█.█.█.█.█....██..█.█..
█.█.█.█.█.█.█.█.█.....█.█...█.
█.█.█.█.█.█.█...█.....█.█...█.
█.█.█.█.█.█.█...█.....█.█████.
█...█.█...█.█...█.....█.█...█.
█...█.█...█.█...█..█..█.█...█.
...................█..█.......
....................██........

Each "." "white" pixel is a three stripe "RGB" on my laptop
screen using gnome2.  With gnome3, the leading two pixels
of each character are a half-brightness smear.  If I turn
off hinting, some pixels vanish.  Rows of "MMM" turn into
a grey smear.

What can I use for a compact 6x13 pixel font in Gnome3,
without smearing?  Most of my screens are 1024x768. 
Low resolution, but so are my eyes.

Keith
 
-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com