I want a font like Fixedsys

[Fred]

I want a font like 'Fixedsys' in Windows.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixedsys

A real monospaced console/terminal/system-like font.

A real hard-core ASCII hacker font. So when you open GNOME Terminal or something, you can have the same font as Ctrl+Alt+F2.
Very good, clean, easy to read font, good for programming too.

[hangy (hangy)]

Ubuntu includes several monospaced fonts. I guess "Courier 10 Pitch" or "FreeMono" could be good candidates for you.
Also have a look at the ttf-freefont, xfonts-mona and xfonts-terminus* packages.

If you do not mind, I am marking this bug as "Invalid" now, because I do not think this is a bug in Ubuntu. In the case that you think it is, feel free to re-open you bugreport. :)

[Fred (eldmannen+launchpad)]

Yes, "Courier 10 Pitch" and "FreeMono" are monospaced.
However, none of them are suitable console/terminal/system-like font. None of them are anything like Fixedsys. None of them are real hard-core ASCII hacker fonts.

Ubuntu some should come with an equivalent to the Fixedsys font. A real mono-spaced console/terminal/system-like font. A real hard-core ASCII hacker font.

It should look something like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Fixedsys_Basic.png

I propose that Ubuntu include by default such a font.

[Fred (eldmannen+launchpad)]

Also, I installed ttf-freefont, xfonts-mona and xfonts-terminus, but I can't find them in gedit font list.

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

In Intrepid, I've installed xfonts-terminus and it is listed in gedit as Terminus under Edit / Preferences / Font & Colors / Editor Font

It's close to the "hardcore ascii hacker font" your looking for but lighter.

Is it still an issue ?

[Fred (eldmannen+launchpad)]

I don't know.

It's good. But might be better than nothing. But it is not the good old faithful Fixedsys.
It is not same font that BIOS displays during boot.

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

In the comments following your post in Brainstorm (http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/5086/) someone gives this link http://fixedsys.moviecorner.de/?p=download&l=1 which points to a gpl version of the fixedsys ttf .

There is also this one http://www.fixedsysexcelsior.com/ and a deb is available at http://tinyurl.com/67avq6 . I haven't reviewed the license terms but if it's compatible with Ubuntu it could be a good candidate for inclusion.

[Fred (eldmannen+launchpad)]

Yeah, it would be great with a free/open version of Fixedsys to be included in Ubuntu by default.

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

I've packaged fixedsys-excelsior because it seems to be the most complete font and it's free. I'm waiting a feedback from the creator regarding the license and it's authorization for inclusion in Ubuntu.

It's available in my ppa at "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/jibel/ubuntu intrepid main" as ttf-fixedsys-excelsior
Feel free to add your comments.

[Walter Tross (walter-waltertross)]

Let me point out that the good thing about Fixedsys and the like is its readability, particularly because it is not anti-aliased. Unless the dot pitch of typical monitors gets much smaller than today (and it hasn't, in the last years), it will continue to be the ideal programming font for me.

[Walter Tross (walter-waltertross)]

Thank you very much, Jean-Baptiste, for packaging fixedsys-excelsior.
Unfortunately on my kubuntu hardy amd64 it has a problem which prevents its use:
the width of the character "A" is zero (i.e., the "A" is displayed, but it is overwritten by the character which follows it).

[Walter Tross (walter-waltertross)]

Further info about the zero-width "A" on my kubuntu hardy amd64 system:
It only happens at the "natural" (i.e., correct) display size of 12 pixels, for "regular" and "bold" (but neither "italic" nor "bold italic").
At all other sizes the "A" has the correct width.

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

Here is a slightly modified version that can be used at 12pt under Linux. Can you replace the file /usr/share/fonts/truetype/ttf-fixedsys-excelsior/FSEX300.ttf with this one and tell us if it works ? I'll repackage it then.

[Walter Tross (walter-waltertross)]

I confirm that the modified version of FSEX300.ttf (FSEX300-L.tff) fixes the zero-width "A" problem on my system.
Nice! Thanks!
The only issue that remains open for me is that some ligatures are a bit odd for programming.
The -> which becomes a right arrow (correctly of double width) may be regarded as a (nice) feature, but the -- which becomes an m-dash (also correctly of double width), is somewhat disconcerting, especially if you intend to write a decrement operator.
Jean-Baptiste, do you have any suggestion about this issue?

[Jo Shields (directhex)]

ttf-inconsolata package.

[Walter Tross (walter-waltertross)]

tff-inconsolata is absolutely not the same thing as fixedsys.
It is antialiased (soft/blurred edges) and thin.
Jean-Baptiste, could you please please do the last step towards inclusion of ttf-fixedsys-excelsior?
Je t'en prie!

[Derek_ (derek-name)]

Walter, here is another version that only replaces these ligatures:
-- to —
<- to ←
-> to →
<-> to ↔

with these:
-emdash- to —
zzlarrow to ←
zzrarrow to →
zzlrarrow to ↔

Let me know if there are other nuisances. I know from experience how those original ligatures can make editing, e.g. in Code::Blocks, really awkward.

[Valentin Neacsu (valentin.neacsu)]

This font is almost perfect. One last request to add: please make it so that bold and normal look identical for size 12 (just as Fixedsys does). Thanks!

[Valentin Neacsu (valentin.neacsu)]

Ignore that last request, I've just found an option in gnome-terminal that ignores bold fonts, and that makes this font perfect. Thanks a lot!

[Derek_ (derek-name)]

I'm glad to help.

In Firefox I set the monospace font to "Fixedsys Excelsior 3.01-L2" at 16pt. Firefox for some reason shrinks the fonts from these settings so that that ends up as 12pt.

Also, I put this rule in ~/.mozilla/firefox/[profile_code].default/chrome/userContent.css:

tt, code, pre

{

 font: 12pt monospace !important;
}

To prevent bold, you could add this line to that rule:
       font-weight: normal !important;

In Windows XP that file is in
[drive]:/Documents and Settings/[user_name]/Application Data/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/[profile_code].default/chrome/userContent.css

[Jesko Hüttenhain (rattle-n)]

Hey everyone, sorry for the necromancy on this fairly old thread. I am looking for a version of Fixedsys Excelsior with the property that bold looks the same as normal, exactly as requested earlier here. My attempts to modify the font accordingly have all failed. If someone here knows how to do it, I would be very grateful for it.

[Derek_ (derek-name)]

Jesko, this TTF file is the same as what I uploaded in 2009, but it is set as being bold. If you have both this and the one above (from 2009-05-01) installed, this one, which is visually identical, should automatically get used for the bold weight.

[Jesko Hüttenhain (rattle-n)]

Dear Darek, thanks a lot for this! I had tried the same thing before, but my clumsy attempts using ttx remained unsuccessful. The font you provided didn't quite work on Windows because it was complaining about a name conflict. However, this time I was able to fix it using ttx by appending "-Bold" to one of the fields containing the font name. After this tiny modification, it worked like a charm. I am attaching the fonts I am using now, which work exactly as you describe.

PS: The name of the font was changed because of an unrelated issue; I want to use these fonts in a software which behaves buggy when the selected font name contains spaces.

[Derek_ (derek-name)]

I'm happy to know that helped. I'm using FontForge. I see the name field that I missed updating. My Linux system didn't seem to be bothered by it. Thanks for letting me know your results and what worked.