Good idea; I will try to find a good solution.

(Link which get correctely parsed by bugzilla: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droid_fonts )

Actually, this isn't a KDE issue since KDE uses the CSS generic font names as default and the actual default font used is determined by the configuration files of FontConfig.

That is the default font names are "Sans Serf", "Monospace" & "Serif".  The actual fonts used are determined by the "/etc/fonts/conf.d/" files.  So, as stated before, this is really a distro issue and not anything that KDE controls.

So, there is no fix for this bug although you can use whatever fonts you want either by configuring KDE or editing the FontConfig files.  The only thing which KDE could do would be to have configuration of FontConfig in the ControlCenter but this would not control the default.  So, I am closing this bug and suggest that you make the suggestion to the distro you use.

I do not fully agree.

There is also the possibilty to ship this font with KDE, and use this (hardcoded with fontname) as default.

We would need to find the best way to do that. There are several possibilties.

Please let this bug open until we can agree on "possible" or "impossible, dist specific issue".

I've already asked for it downstream. See https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/311415. Again, this font makes KDE look very good. I always need to make font modifications after a fresh install of KDE. It's all about the famous "first impression".

Re: Comment #4

I tend to agree about the default font issues.  I also make font modifications after an install to use commercial fonts.  I am just trying to be realistic here and the fact is that the KDE installation should not modify another package although it can provide a GUI widget so that the user can do this. 

You also need to realize that there are other similar requests from time to time to use a different free font as the default. :-|

However, there is nothing really wrong with the BitStream Vera fonts which are the default in FontConfig.  It is also possible that some distos don't use the BitStream fonts -- if the Vera fonts aren't installed, FontConfig will use something else:

/etc/fonts/conf.d/60-latin.conf

	<alias>
		<family>sans-serif</family>
		<prefer>
			<family>Bitstream Vera Sans</family>
			<family>DejaVu Sans</family>
			<family>Verdana</family>
			<family>Arial</family>
			<family>Albany AMT</family>
			<family>Luxi Sans</family>
			<family>Nimbus Sans L</family>
			<family>Helvetica</family>
		</prefer>
	</alias>

The worst case it that it will use the bit mapped Helvetica that comes with X-11 and that could look really bad.  It is also possible that your distro has changed this file.

I think this should really be a DOWNSTREAM one. By default KDE should just follow the fontconfig setting for consistency with other apps which also use the default. In addition the choice of a font has subjective aspects (the way it looks) but also objective ones, such as the presence of hinting instructions, the unicode coverage and this sort of thing. And also what if someone else wants Liberation to be the default, another one wants Dejavu, etc.?

I agree on closing this for the reason already given. It's good that KDE respect the system default configuration.

Okay, one other idea: we could suggest distributions to use the droid font by default. One possible place for that could be the requirements page:

http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.2_Requirements

Of course just as optional, but strongly suggested.

One thing to keep in mind is that it would change the default font for all apps, and also for example Gnome... Not sure if they like it.

But, why this font and not another? What should we do if I'd like another font? And if someonelse like other fonts?

It is right that distributors are free to choose what they want.

Of course it is right that everyone is free to choose the font.

The issue in my eyes is that most distributions do not change the default font, and so KDE's default fonts look not very nice... It's all about default and first impression of KDE. If we suggest a default font, distributions do at least have a hint what they could use and what would look fine as default.

I couldn't agree more with Urs. It's all about the default and the first impression. If a distro or a user doesn't like the default, he or she can change that. My opinion is that Droid looks good, and my experience with KDE default is that it doesn't look good.

Hello,

@Urs: then please file a bug to your distro. This issue is a real can of worm. You prefer droid there is nothing wrong with that. However there are also perfectly good reasons to rather prefer (for instance) Gentium, Liberation, DejaVu, etc. over Droid this is a never ending story. Sure we can also have a list of font with which KDE looks good, but according to whom? (I remember a bug report asking to set a given monospace font as the default font for KDE because according to the reporter it looked good).

@Fred: If KDE does not look good out of the box, report the bug your distro. It is just a matter of fixing their fontconfig default.

Also in general for everyone, do not forget that because it looks good in your case does not mean it is good for a general purpose font. Among other things to think about: what is the unicode coverage, are the glyphs instructed, does it have the bold, oblic and bold oblic variants, are those variants hinted, etc.? Most free fonts lack in one or more of those particular area. Just having given a quick look for instance droid does not have any oblique variant and the unicode coverage of droid is quite limited which would make any missing glyph quite out of place. It should really be up to the distro to set the font according to their market.

But as i said, that is a can of worm, let's rather transmit it DOWNSTREAM, where it belongs. :)

Probably reporting to distro is not useful, as nobody wants to loose time on this type of issues.

We should let the artwork team think if this (or another) font is good and if them (artwork team) want, them can add it as a "suggested font"... 

Moreover Mederic suggests that it shouldn't be forgetted that not all languages use latin fonts...

Re: Comment #10.

Again, I point out that KDE does not have a specific default font.  Someone above my pay grade decided that we would use the W3C/CCS generic names as defaults.  This means that the actual default is determined by the the configuration files for FontConfig (which your distro might have modified) and also by which font files you have installed.  The stock FontConfig has BitStream Vera Sans as the first choice for 'sans-serif'.

So, before any futher discussion, I need to ask if you have Bitstream Vera Sans installed (Vera.ttf) and if that is the font that KDE is using?

The only real difference that I see with Droid vs. Vera Sans is that Droid is narrower.  Do you perceive other differences?

(In reply to comment #14)

Yes, BitStream Vera Sans is installed here and it looks okay. But I have to say that IMHO Droid looks way nicer. But that's just IMHO.

Now let the artists decide if they want to suggest a specific font or just let it as it is currently.

Curently I'm using Liberation (from the same fontforge as this one), I will have a look at this font later on after the artwork freeze.
I tend to agrea that we should ship nicer loking defoults and that a nicer font/font sizes/aa setings are part of that. (been plaing in my mind with the resulution depended defoults for a long time couse what works in one monitor dosent in another.)
But im absolutly sure we can do beter defoults.
I have been trying to find a decent font forger to work for us in the creation of a usable marketing font, but this is a complex task... if any one knows ones please put me in contact with him...
So my vote for this bug is fix later.... 

We use Noto now specifically because of its very broad glyph support.