openjdk team mailing list archive

[John Neffenger <1815119@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Public bug reported:

This is a request to backport the simple two-line fix for Java Bug
JDK-8212071 to OpenJDK 11. Doing so will correct a very visible font
error that has persisted in the OpenJDK since its beginning. The bug is
best described on the page below. Scroll down to the first set of Font
Demo screenshots for a quick view of the problem in the "Before" and
"After" images.

OpenJDK FreeType Font Fix
https://github.com/jgneff/openjdk-freetype

The page above links to the official report in the Java Bug System:

Need to set the FreeType LCD Filter to reduce fringing
https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8212071

The consequences of this bug have been far-reaching. It's one of the
reasons why JetBrains created their own fork of the JDK to included in
IntelliJ IDEA [1]; why we have popular forks of the JDK just to fix the
fonts on Ubuntu [2]; and why the snap for NetBeans 10 now ships with
sub-pixel rendering entirely disabled by default [3], reverting to
grayscale anti-aliasing.

Personally it's why, after programming in Java since 1996, I was ready
to abandon the platform completely for any other alternative that could
simply get the fonts right -- Python and Qt, Dart and Flutter,
JavaScript and Electron, anything. Worse yet, the exact same problem
existed in JavaFX as well, but for entirely different reasons [4]. That
made it appear as if this was some font problem intrinsic to Java
itself. Instead, they were both the most trivial of bugs that
nonetheless persisted for years, making Java look terrible on Ubuntu or
any other Debian-based distribution. I wonder how many others just
walked away -- from NetBeans, from JavaFX, from Java -- in silence.

Let's fix this. I don't think we can wait until OpenJDK 12. Let me know
if I can help in any way.

Thank you,
John

[1] https://github.com/JetBrains/jdk8u_jdk
[2] https://launchpad.net/~no1wantdthisname/+archive/ubuntu/openjdk-fontfix
[3] https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/NETBEANS/Font+Rendering+Issues
[4] https://github.com/javafxports/openjdk-jfx/issues/229

** Affects: openjdk-lts (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of OpenJDK,
which is subscribed to openjdk-lts in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1815119

Title:
  Backport critical JDK-8212071 font fix to OpenJDK 11

Status in openjdk-lts package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  This is a request to backport the simple two-line fix for Java Bug
  JDK-8212071 to OpenJDK 11. Doing so will correct a very visible font
  error that has persisted in the OpenJDK since its beginning. The bug
  is best described on the page below. Scroll down to the first set of
  Font Demo screenshots for a quick view of the problem in the "Before"
  and "After" images.

  OpenJDK FreeType Font Fix
  https://github.com/jgneff/openjdk-freetype

  The page above links to the official report in the Java Bug System:

  Need to set the FreeType LCD Filter to reduce fringing
  https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8212071

  The consequences of this bug have been far-reaching. It's one of the
  reasons why JetBrains created their own fork of the JDK to included in
  IntelliJ IDEA [1]; why we have popular forks of the JDK just to fix
  the fonts on Ubuntu [2]; and why the snap for NetBeans 10 now ships
  with sub-pixel rendering entirely disabled by default [3], reverting
  to grayscale anti-aliasing.

  Personally it's why, after programming in Java since 1996, I was ready
  to abandon the platform completely for any other alternative that
  could simply get the fonts right -- Python and Qt, Dart and Flutter,
  JavaScript and Electron, anything. Worse yet, the exact same problem
  existed in JavaFX as well, but for entirely different reasons [4].
  That made it appear as if this was some font problem intrinsic to Java
  itself. Instead, they were both the most trivial of bugs that
  nonetheless persisted for years, making Java look terrible on Ubuntu
  or any other Debian-based distribution. I wonder how many others just
  walked away -- from NetBeans, from JavaFX, from Java -- in silence.

  Let's fix this. I don't think we can wait until OpenJDK 12. Let me
  know if I can help in any way.

  Thank you,
  John

  [1] https://github.com/JetBrains/jdk8u_jdk
  [2] https://launchpad.net/~no1wantdthisname/+archive/ubuntu/openjdk-fontfix
  [3] https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/NETBEANS/Font+Rendering+Issues
  [4] https://github.com/javafxports/openjdk-jfx/issues/229

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