Re: Semi-OT: font advice

[giacomo boffi]

jester@panix.com (Jesse Sheidlower) writes:

> I recently got a new computer, and the monitor's resolution at
> 1400 x 1050 is such that the default font, which seems to be
> "-adobe-courier-medium-r-normal--12-120-75-75-m-70-iso8859-1",
                                      ----**-**----
> is too small to comfortably read.

look above the *'s:
that font is intended for use with a monitor that does ~75dpi

your monitor is likely to work something in the 110-120dpi range,

let's say that you have a font "-*-BIG-*-75-75-*", designed to be ~ 1"
high on a 75dpi monitor, and that you use it on your, let's say again,
115dpi monitor

           on your monitor, the font is measured .652" high

to help your system choosing the right fonts, try 

 - fiddling with FontPath(?) ordering in (you're using a pc?) 
   /etc/X11/XF86Config, placing the 100dpi path _before_ the 75dpi one

 - starting X with the option "-dpi 115", man X should tell the
   configuration file to edit

 - this is controversial: install some scalable fonts

> I am trying to find a font that is better but am having trouble
> working with the fonts, and would appreciate some advice.

the other advice you got is very good, but i hope that my post could
be useful also in a broader perspective, as other apps could benefit
as well from larger fonts