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nixos/fontconfig: fix allowBitmaps option with recent fontconfig versions#449715

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nixos/fontconfig: fix allowBitmaps option with recent fontconfig versions#449715
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@mcsimw mcsimw commented Oct 7, 2025 •
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The new version of fontconfig includes a new configuration file 70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf that rejects bitmap fonts by default. This breaks the existing fonts.fontconfig.allowBitmaps option, which is true by default but no longer has any effect.

This change removes the new bitmap rejection config file when allowBitmaps is true, restoring the intended behavior and allowing bitmap fonts like Spleen and Terminus to work correctly.

Fixes #449657

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@nixpkgs-ci nixpkgs-ci Bot added 10.rebuild-linux: 1-10 This PR causes between 1 and 10 packages to rebuild on Linux. 10.rebuild-darwin: 1-10 This PR causes between 1 and 10 packages to rebuild on Darwin. 10.rebuild-nixos-tests This PR causes rebuilds for all NixOS tests and should normally target the staging branches. 6.topic: nixos Issues or PRs affecting NixOS modules, or package usability issues specific to NixOS 8.has: module (update) This PR changes an existing module in `nixos/` labels Oct 7, 2025
@acid-bong

acid-bong commented Oct 8, 2025 •
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Rename your commit to match the PR: title conventions apply to both commits and PRs.

And a non-blocking tip for the future (and your own convenience): when submitting PRs, never commit to the main branch, branch out. The main branch in your clone is there only to be synced with the upstream

@mcsimw

mcsimw commented Oct 8, 2025

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Rename your commit to match the PR: title conventions apply to both commits and PRs.

And a non-blocking tip for the future (and your own convenience): when submitting PRs, never commit to the main branch, branch out. The main branch in your clone is there only to be synced with the upstream

I renamed the commit to match PR.

And noted for next time, will branch out when commiting changes to my nixpkgs repo.

acid-bong
acid-bong reviewed Oct 8, 2025
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Comment thread nixos/modules/config/fonts/fontconfig.nix Outdated
@mcsimw

mcsimw commented Oct 8, 2025 •
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@acid-bong I would also like to add that I am not sure exactly what caused this file to get generated as of yesterday by nixpkgs. Fontconfig was updated last about a month ago in the nixos-unstable branch and I keep my nixpkgs updated pretty frequently. I would have noticed earlier if that was an issue. So the title of PR/commit/my description of the cause of this problem might not be accurate.

The fontconfig package might not be generating it, perhaps some other package that got updated. I'm not too sure🤷🏻‍♂️

Anyways that new file that's getting generated 70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf has to be either removed or modified in some way for bitmap fonts to work on nixos (outside a tty session)

@acid-bong acid-bong requested a review from jtojnar October 9, 2025 03:29
@Soveu

Soveu commented Oct 9, 2025

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Anyways that new file that's getting generated 70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf has to be either removed or modified in some way for bitmap fonts to work on nixos (outside a tty session)

I'm not sure how fontconfig should be configured, but 70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf lies right next to 70-yes-bitmaps.conf and these files are present both in 2.16 and 2.17 version of fontconfig

@Soveu

Soveu commented Oct 9, 2025

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There are four different files with priority 70: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/fontconfig/fontconfig/-/tree/main/conf.d?ref_type=heads

Soveu
Soveu reviewed Oct 9, 2025
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Comment thread nixos/modules/config/fonts/fontconfig.nix
replaceDefaultConfig "11-lcdfilter-default.conf" "11-lcdfilter-${cfg.subpixel.lcdfilter}.conf"
)}

${lib.optionalString cfg.allowBitmaps ''

@Soveu Soveu Oct 9, 2025

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Seems like line 137 should be tweaked instead?

@Soveu Soveu Oct 9, 2025

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Not sure really how to do this properly. Line 202 blindly links the configuration files, while some of them are conflicting.

Ma27
Ma27 reviewed Oct 9, 2025
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Please retarget to staging-nixos since this causes a rebuild of all nixos tests.
Everything in there will usually be merged with the next kernel update, i.e. ~weekly.

See also https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#changes-rebuilding-all-nixos-tests

@mcsimw

mcsimw commented Oct 9, 2025

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Anyways that new file that's getting generated 70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf has to be either removed or modified in some way for bitmap fonts to work on nixos (outside a tty session)

I'm not sure how fontconfig should be configured, but 70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf lies right next to 70-yes-bitmaps.conf and these files are present both in 2.16 and 2.17 version of fontconfig

pretty sure I did not see 70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf in my filesystem in a generation from a few days ago.

@Soveu

Soveu commented Oct 9, 2025 •
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i do see them on my desktop PC, which I have not updated since monday

soveu@gaming /n/store> find . -name '70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf'
./5kwqwv0l273i2c21x834friv4pwj5q5z-fontconfig-2.16.0/share/fontconfig/conf.avail/70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf
./94migj77lfkqxjz8dzdicb68hgdiv53g-fontconfig-2.16.2/share/fontconfig/conf.avail/70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf
./lscizzvxksjpvqd0kjkd04q264qq22yr-fontconfig-2.16.2/share/fontconfig/conf.avail/70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf

@mcsimw

mcsimw commented Oct 9, 2025 •
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i do see them on my desktop PC, which I have not updated since monday

soveu@gaming /n/store> find . -name '70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf'
./5kwqwv0l273i2c21x834friv4pwj5q5z-fontconfig-2.16.0/share/fontconfig/conf.avail/70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf
./94migj77lfkqxjz8dzdicb68hgdiv53g-fontconfig-2.16.2/share/fontconfig/conf.avail/70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf
./lscizzvxksjpvqd0kjkd04q264qq22yr-fontconfig-2.16.2/share/fontconfig/conf.avail/70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf

Is it present in /etc/fonts/conf.d? I don't think they get symlinked there in older revisions of nixpkgs.

@mcsimw mcsimw closed this Oct 9, 2025
@mcsimw mcsimw reopened this Oct 9, 2025
@mcsimw

mcsimw commented Oct 9, 2025

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Closing in favor of #450484 which targets staging-nixos as requested by @Ma27

@mcsimw mcsimw closed this Oct 9, 2025
@Soveu Soveu mentioned this pull request Oct 10, 2025
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6.topic: nixos Issues or PRs affecting NixOS modules, or package usability issues specific to NixOS 8.has: module (update) This PR changes an existing module in `nixos/` 10.rebuild-darwin: 1-10 This PR causes between 1 and 10 packages to rebuild on Darwin. 10.rebuild-linux: 1-10 This PR causes between 1 and 10 packages to rebuild on Linux. 10.rebuild-nixos-tests This PR causes rebuilds for all NixOS tests and should normally target the staging branches.

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nixos/fonts: Bitmap fonts are filtered by fontconfig

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