J
Joey Sneddon
When GNOME 47 is released later this year it may come with a new desktop font.
Well, not new new, so don’t get too excited. We’re talking new to GNOME, not new to the world.
GNOME’s design team is exploring a switch to Inter, a popular open-source sans-serif typeface first published in 2017 by Swedish programmer Rasmus Andersson. Inter pitches itself as a “carefully crafted & designed” font for computer screens.
Yet its use has extended well beyond that.
Inter’s legibility, variability, and adaptability, multiple weights, OpenType features, and glyph coverage across 147 languages have seen it used on everything from website text, and brand logos, to NASA tools, and even medical equipment.
The fact this font is purposely designed for use in computer user interfaces (where a large x-height helps), Inter feels like a fine fit for the GNOME desktop.
GNOME 46 with Inter font applied
Presently, the GNOME desktop uses Cantarell—which my mind always misreads as Canderel, much to my amusement—as its default font, and has done since (IIRC) 2010 or so.
Cantarell is a competent, legible typeface that, to my eye, looks good as-is. It’s a key plank in GNOME’s visual branding.
Not familiar with Cantarell? Not a surprise; not all distros which ship GNOME Shell use it. Ubuntu sets the Ubuntu font as its UI typeface, Pop!_OS uses Fira Sans, and so on. Fedora Workstation does use Cantarell, though.
So what’s prompted a change?
GNOME Foundation member Cassidy James Blaede, in an initiative ticket proposing (and now partly tracking) the change, explains it thus: –
“Cantarell has served us well, but we’ve been wondering if it would be more beneficial to default to a more modern and well-maintained typeface, especially one that is actively developed to support new font features as they are developed“.
“Inter fits this bill and is viewed favorably by some folks on the [GNOME] design team.”
The other side to the move is maintenance.
Cantarell, tried-and-tested though it is, is said to be “basically unmaintained”. The popularity and open-source nature of Inter has led to a vibrant community growing up around it, filing issues, proposing changes, and contributing code.
It’s not simply maintained, it’s passionately maintained, with stakeholders and expertise pouring in from diverse sectors — a compelling lure when it comes to reliability, maintenance, language support, and so on.
It’s an interesting change, and the rationale is solid: as we’ve seen with many popular fonts, be it the Ubuntu font, or Microsoft’s code-focused Cascadia monospace typeface, the needs, asks, and requirements of typefaces changes and evolves.
Inter is a popular sans-serif typeface
If you fancy trying it out yourself you don’t need to wait until GNOME 47.
Make a note of which font your distro uses by default font and font size before making this change (taking a screenshot is handy for this) so you can switch back if you decide Inter doesn’t inter-est you.
Finally, use the GNOME Tweaks utility to select and set Inter as the ‘interface font’. Or use gsettings from the command-line:
GNOME developers are still experimenting with different font sizes, weights, etc so it’s too early to know exactly how (assuming if they do switch, ofc) Inter will look in-situ, but a font size of ’11’ is a good way to get an early gauge on how things could look.
But to be clear: this is not a done deal. The change has been proposed, discussed, and is now undergoing testing, but GNOME is happy to revert back to Cantarell should that testing indicate Inter isn’t (yet) ready for a wider roll-out.
Let me know what you think of this proposal down in the comments.
The post After 14 Years of Cantarell, GNOME is Testing a New Default Font is from OMG! Linux and reproduction without permission is, like, a nope.
Continue reading...
Well, not new new, so don’t get too excited. We’re talking new to GNOME, not new to the world.
GNOME’s design team is exploring a switch to Inter, a popular open-source sans-serif typeface first published in 2017 by Swedish programmer Rasmus Andersson. Inter pitches itself as a “carefully crafted & designed” font for computer screens.
Yet its use has extended well beyond that.
Inter’s legibility, variability, and adaptability, multiple weights, OpenType features, and glyph coverage across 147 languages have seen it used on everything from website text, and brand logos, to NASA tools, and even medical equipment.
The fact this font is purposely designed for use in computer user interfaces (where a large x-height helps), Inter feels like a fine fit for the GNOME desktop.
Why is GNOME changing font?
GNOME 46 with Inter font applied
Presently, the GNOME desktop uses Cantarell—which my mind always misreads as Canderel, much to my amusement—as its default font, and has done since (IIRC) 2010 or so.
Cantarell is a competent, legible typeface that, to my eye, looks good as-is. It’s a key plank in GNOME’s visual branding.
Not familiar with Cantarell? Not a surprise; not all distros which ship GNOME Shell use it. Ubuntu sets the Ubuntu font as its UI typeface, Pop!_OS uses Fira Sans, and so on. Fedora Workstation does use Cantarell, though.
So what’s prompted a change?
GNOME Foundation member Cassidy James Blaede, in an initiative ticket proposing (and now partly tracking) the change, explains it thus: –
“Cantarell has served us well, but we’ve been wondering if it would be more beneficial to default to a more modern and well-maintained typeface, especially one that is actively developed to support new font features as they are developed“.
“Inter fits this bill and is viewed favorably by some folks on the [GNOME] design team.”
The other side to the move is maintenance.
Cantarell, tried-and-tested though it is, is said to be “basically unmaintained”. The popularity and open-source nature of Inter has led to a vibrant community growing up around it, filing issues, proposing changes, and contributing code.
It’s not simply maintained, it’s passionately maintained, with stakeholders and expertise pouring in from diverse sectors — a compelling lure when it comes to reliability, maintenance, language support, and so on.
It’s an interesting change, and the rationale is solid: as we’ve seen with many popular fonts, be it the Ubuntu font, or Microsoft’s code-focused Cascadia monospace typeface, the needs, asks, and requirements of typefaces changes and evolves.
Try it Out Yourself
Inter is a popular sans-serif typeface
If you fancy trying it out yourself you don’t need to wait until GNOME 47.
Make a note of which font your distro uses by default font and font size before making this change (taking a screenshot is handy for this) so you can switch back if you decide Inter doesn’t inter-est you.
- Download Inter font from the official website (not Google Fonts)
- Extract the
.zipand enter the resulting folder - Double-click on
InterVariable.ttf - In the Fonts app click the install button
- Repeat for
InterVariable-Italic.ttf
Finally, use the GNOME Tweaks utility to select and set Inter as the ‘interface font’. Or use gsettings from the command-line:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface font-name 'Inter Variable 11'GNOME developers are still experimenting with different font sizes, weights, etc so it’s too early to know exactly how (assuming if they do switch, ofc) Inter will look in-situ, but a font size of ’11’ is a good way to get an early gauge on how things could look.
But to be clear: this is not a done deal. The change has been proposed, discussed, and is now undergoing testing, but GNOME is happy to revert back to Cantarell should that testing indicate Inter isn’t (yet) ready for a wider roll-out.
Let me know what you think of this proposal down in the comments.
The post After 14 Years of Cantarell, GNOME is Testing a New Default Font is from OMG! Linux and reproduction without permission is, like, a nope.
Continue reading...
