bug#57242: GNOME is missing default font (cantarell)

[Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer@gmail.com>]

Hello,

Luis Felipe <luis.felipe.la@protonmail.com> writes:

> On Tuesday, August 16th, 2022 at 13:54, Liliana Marie Prikler <liliana.prikler@ist.tugraz.at> wrote:
>
>> Am Dienstag, dem 16.08.2022 um 12:04 +0200 schrieb Christophe Pisteur:
>> 

[...]

>> > ## Workaround
>> > 
>
>> > Thank to https://luis-felipe.gitlab.io/:
>> > 
>
>> > 1. guix install font-abattis-cantarell
>> > 2. fc-cache -rv
>> > 3. Reload GNOME Shell (press Alt+F2, type the letter r in the command
>> > box, and press Enter)
>> 
>
>> Is the first step really needed? Cantarell should already be part of
>> gnome-service-type.
>
> I just rolled back my profile to a generation previous to installing
> (1), performed (2) and (3) again, and the desktop is still using
> cantarell, so I it seems (1) is not needed after all.

>> In any case, troubles with fonts are to be expected under some
>> circumstances. See `info "(guix)Application Setup"', particularly
>> paragraph 2.6.3 X11 Fonts. Your issue also has probably little to do
>> with linux-libre but rather the fact that an update from pre-5.18 to
>> now brings in lots of package changes. IIRC the great Cantarell break
>> was a rather recent event, though I'm not sure what caused it.

As Liliana mentioned, there may occasionally some issues with stale font
cache, and the workaround is documented.  I'm not sure if this is the
fault of GDM or fonconfig itself, although I've never had to run the
command myself (not a GDM user), so perhaps the former.

If you manage to come up with a clear reproducer or pinpoint the exact
cause, do open a new issue.

Closing for now,

Thanks for the report!

Maxim