xscreensaver package should require xfonts-100dpi or xfonts-75dpi to be installed

[Chris Eslinger]

By default, when the xscreensaver package is installed, the bitmapped fonts it is programmed to use may not be present. In this case, any missing fonts default to "fixed" and the result is a very small font size on modern screens. The fonts xscreensaver daemon uses are part of the "Helvetica" family. On a system lacking the correct fonts, "xlsfonts -fn '*-helvetica-*'" results in no matches.

Adding the xfonts-100dpi or xfonts-75dpi packages fixes the problem with the missing fonts in both xscreensaver daemon and the hacks that depend on bitmapped fonts (e.g., memscroller), so adding these packages as dependencies should improve users' experience with the packaged xscreensaver.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Joris Bierkens (jbierkens)]

even when I install the xfonts-75dpi and xfonts-100dpi I do not get these fonts.

$ sudo apt install xfonts-75dpi xfonts-100dpi
$ xlsfonts | grep helv | wc
      0 0 0

On another note, in my case xscreensaver seems to be requesting the "dina"-fonts. I get the error messages like:

xscreensaver: unloadable, unparsable font: "-*-dina-bold-...."

any help appreciated to get rid of this annoying error message.

[Joris Bierkens (jbierkens)]

update: after a reboot, -adobe-helvetica-... fonts are indeed present.

next, changing the fontname "dina" in ~/.Xdefaults into "helvetica" resolves the above issue with Xscreensaver.