For linux users, you can open the .FON files with fontforge, then go to file menu -> generate to create a .bdf file (I prefer to use bitmap over ttf to avoid any artifacts).
The Oldschool PC Font Pack v2.0
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Re: The Oldschool PC Font Pack v2.0
#12For linux users, you can open the .FON files with fontforge, then go to file menu -> generate to create a .bdf file (I prefer to use bitmap over ttf to avoid any artifacts).
At the right sizes the included 'Mx' fonts should avoid those artifacts - they're ttf but contain embedded bitmaps, which seem to be better supported in Linux than in Windows (supported, but silly hacks required) or macOS (seemingly not supported at all). :)
I do want to include .bdf fonts in future versions, especially if the conversion is as simple as that. But if I do it I want to be sure I do it correctly, and I'm still not 100% familiar with the format.
Re: The Oldschool PC Font Pack v2.0
#13It never ceases to amaze me that the IBM PC got these fonts when IBM big iron terminals had a much nicer, modern geometric sans serif font. They just needed to use the 5100 font or terminal fonts they were already using.
> a much nicer, modern geometric sans serif font Which font was that?
The 5100, 5110, and 5120 computers had a simple sans serif font, with a distinctive narrow zero. The 3270, 3150, and 5250 terminals also shared a very nice design (which was copied into x3270's), with distinctive 6's, 9's and the dotted rounded 0 (that made it easier to distinguish from the squarer O). The 3270 also had the peculiarity of having the digits being slighly taller than the letters.
I'm not sure which was the first machine that had the distinctive MDA look that flowed into CGA, EGA, and VGA. Could be something created for the PC.
If all else failed, it'd be nicer if they just did like Commodore and copied the Atari 8-bit one with wide stems. The NTSC output for the CGA board more or less mandated the wide stems to prevent color artifacts.
Re: The Oldschool PC Font Pack v2.0
#14It never ceases to amaze me that the IBM PC got these fonts when IBM big iron terminals had a much nicer, modern geometric sans serif font. They just needed to use the 5100 font or terminal fonts they were already using.
Likely because the IBM PC project was a very rushed job, by IBM standards. It was built rather quickly using as much as possible off the shelf hardware and software. Due to the buacr bureaucratic nature of the company of the time, the project was largely kept from the rest of the company. That's why they outsourced DOS
When the project started, they were way way behind in the home PC market
Re: The Oldschool PC Font Pack v2.0
#15This led me on a short Google trip to find the Sun Openboot font:
Finding this: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/307356/what-is-the-...
And this is the TTF of that font: https://github.com/Zygo/xscreensaver/blob/master/OSX/gallant...
Re: The Oldschool PC Font Pack v2.0
#16Unrelated to the fonts, but I really love that CSS they're using to emulate the ANSI interfaces of my youth. Perhaps it's just a product of my age, but I find it a lot more usable then a lot of similar website interfaces.
Re: The Oldschool PC Font Pack v2.0
#17I am using an old laptop as a console-only typewriter. This might come in handy for inspiration, thank you!
Re: The Oldschool PC Font Pack v2.0
#18For linux users, you can open the .FON files with fontforge, then go to file menu -> generate to create a .bdf file (I prefer to use bitmap over ttf to avoid any artifacts).
If you are on Linux, you will probably want to convert to OTB instead. Pango has dropped support for BDF and it’s just a matter of time before your distro gets hit with the full effect (if you are on a “stable” channel then you probably haven’t gotten hit yet). If you use old-school X programs without Pango you may not notice, but nearly everything on Linux that doesn’t look like XTerm uses Pango.
See: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BitmapFontConversion
As a side effect, the fonts will probably work better as OTB anyway. At least, that’s my experience.
Re: The Oldschool PC Font Pack v2.0
#19For linux users, you can open the .FON files with fontforge, then go to file menu -> generate to create a .bdf file (I prefer to use bitmap over ttf to avoid any artifacts).
If you are on Linux, you will probably want to convert to OTB instead. Pango has dropped support for BDF and it’s just a matter of time before your distro gets hit with the full effect (if you are on a “stable” channel then you probably haven’t gotten hit yet). If you use old-school X programs without Pango you may not notice, but nearly everything on Linux that doesn’t look like XTerm uses Pango. See: https://fedora…
Makes sense. Bdf is an X11 format, and X is deprecated technology. X font rendering is certainly deprecated.
Re: The Oldschool PC Font Pack v2.0
#20Unrelated to the fonts, but I really love that CSS they're using to emulate the ANSI interfaces of my youth. Perhaps it's just a product of my age, but I find it a lot more usable then a lot of similar website interfaces.
It's so incredibly easy to parse visually. I'm in heaven. The lime-green background for selected text adds a special touch!
I wish there was a CSS framework for this type of UI language