Proposal: reduce base font size from 10pt to 9pt for Karmic Koala release

[LoonyPhoenix]

I think the whole problem with different monitors is solvable by using the
native DPI instead of hard-coding 96 and then using a sane font size which
would then be the same in size across all monitors (in physical millimeters,
as opposed to physical dots on screen). I think 8 pt at native DPI is a sane
default, whereas 10 pt at 96 DPI fits only a limited number of computer
screens.

As far as I understand, the problem with DPI is well-known and rather
ancient. The bug at Launchpad [1] dates back to October 2007. Moreover, the
bug seems to be Ubuntu-specific, as GNOME's Bugzilla [2] lists it as
"RESOLVED -- FIXED", while in Ubuntu it is only "Confirmed".

LoonyPhoenix

Notes:
[1]
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-control-center/+bug/157398
[2] https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=378338

2009/10/11 Remco <remco47 at gmail.com>

> On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 22:01, Conn <subpsyke at eircom.net> wrote:
> > On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 1:15 PM, Felix Miata <mrmazda at earthlink.net>
> wrote:
> >> Ditto. If those are in fact 9pt and not 8pt something is unusual on your
> >> comparison XP. Windows UI fonts have usually been ridiculously small
> >> (8pt),
> >> but I have encountered the use of 9pt in W2K & WXP when "large" has not
> >> been
> >> selected in settings. The browser and office app document fonts have
> >> always
> >> been 12pt by default. The difference in size is a function of area, not
> >> nominal size, meaning that 12pt is 2.25 times the size of 8pt (12^2 /
> 8^2)
> >> and 1.78 times the size of 9pt (12^2 / 9^2).
> >
> > I dual-boot between XP and Ubuntu, and use a bookmark synchronization
> > extension for Firefox. Looking at my Firefox bookmarks toolbar (which is
> > identical in layout between operating systems), Windows XP can fit about
> 10
> > bookmarks on-screen, whereas Ubuntu can fit only 7, or at most 8 with a
> > short title. The entire interface of Ubuntu looks unnecessarily bloated.
> >
> > As I posted in my previous comment, my screen should use 91dpi rendering.
> I
> > have manually set this value, and while fonts looks slightly more compact
> > compared to the default setting, /in my opinion/, 10pt is still too
> bloated.
>
> In my opinion, even a 9pt application font is still too bloated. I
> have the following output from xdpyinfo:
>
>  dimensions:    1920x1200 pixels (372x230 millimeters)
>  resolution:    131x133 dots per inch
>
> On this setup, with the correct DPI set, 10pt looks *huge*. 9pt is
> still too much for my tastes. 8pt feels very natural.
>
> Screenshots:
> 10pt: http://www.few.vu.nl/~rkg230/files/Screenshot10pt.png<http://www.few.vu.nl/%7Erkg230/files/Screenshot10pt.png>
> 9pt: http://www.few.vu.nl/~rkg230/files/Screenshot9pt.png<http://www.few.vu.nl/%7Erkg230/files/Screenshot9pt.png>
> 8pt: http://www.few.vu.nl/~rkg230/files/Screenshot8pt.png<http://www.few.vu.nl/%7Erkg230/files/Screenshot8pt.png>
>
> Also, you can see in the 10pt and 9pt screenshots that the text of the
> CPU monitor on the top panel doesn't fit inside the applet anymore.
>
> --
> Remco
>
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