Simon ([personal profile] swaldman) wrote in [site community profile] dw_dev_training2012-07-08 09:51 am

Confusing fonts!

Just a warning to people after my last half hour of "why doesn't this work":

If you use the Microsoft font "Consolas" for your terminals, you may find that the characters "l" and "1" look almost identical.........

I had a look at some of the other monospaced fonts I have on this system. They all fall into either "those characters look the same" or "much less readable". Consolas is a good font, except for that confusion!

So, I post this to,
  • Vent my frustration
  • Warn others
  • Ask if anybody has a favourite terminal font, and what it is?
Sorry if it's too off-topic :-)
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[personal profile] qem_chibati 2012-07-08 09:26 am (UTC)(link)
On macs, I usually use the default monaco. On windows, I think I end up using courier usually.
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[personal profile] thorfinn 2012-07-10 06:44 am (UTC)(link)
The new default as of a couple of years back (Snow Leopard release, I think, maybe earlier) is Andale Mono... I switched to it back then from Monaco, and rather like it.
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[staff profile] denise 2012-07-08 09:29 am (UTC)(link)
I use Courier New, mostly because I've been using it for years and can tell various easily-confused characters apart by now :)
stormerider: (Default)

[personal profile] stormerider 2012-07-08 09:41 am (UTC)(link)
Honestly, I stick with Courier New for this kind of reason. It's not the prettiest, but I'll take clarity over pretty.
stormerider: (Default)

[personal profile] stormerider 2012-07-08 09:51 am (UTC)(link)
I guess I'm used to it because I've been using it for so long. In the lowercase l the lines are all 90 degree angles. In the 1, it's a 45 degree angle at the top.

I think Lucida has a monospaced font, and there are some custom console fonts from programs like TerraTerm and whatnot... vt100 and such.
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[personal profile] dreamatdrew 2012-07-08 10:20 am (UTC)(link)
I'm using Lucidia Console, and the difference is obvious to me. (The l lacks the horizontal base stroke, the 1 has it.)
denise: Image: Me, facing away from camera, on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome (Default)

[staff profile] denise 2012-07-08 10:28 am (UTC)(link)
Clearly the solution is for us all to get together and create our own monospaced font.

(I have been avoiding learning font design for about 20 years. I do not have time for font creation geekery.)
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[personal profile] pauamma 2012-07-08 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
You know you want to! *ducks*
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[personal profile] metawidget 2012-07-08 11:59 am (UTC)(link)
At work in Windows, I use Lucida Console as well. At home in Mac-land, I use Monaco, as I have for over two decades.
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[personal profile] zvi 2012-07-08 11:25 am (UTC)(link)
Have you tried ubuntu?
stormerider: (Misc - Tux Penguin)

[personal profile] stormerider 2012-07-08 11:51 am (UTC)(link)
Interesting, I didn't realize Ubuntu had it's own font set. Trying it now, first impression is that it's very... flowy. I'll have to see if I can acclimate to it or not.

Thanks for the link :)
zvi: self-portrait: short, fat, black dyke in bunny slippers (Default)

[personal profile] zvi 2012-07-09 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)
It's recent, within the last two years. I don't actually use it on my desktop, but I've find them fairly nice for other applications.
zvi: self-portrait: short, fat, black dyke in bunny slippers (Default)

[personal profile] zvi 2012-07-09 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Welcome.
pauamma: Cartooney crab wearing hot pink and acid green facemask holding drink with straw (Default)

[personal profile] pauamma 2012-07-08 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
İ use the monospace font from that family for all my terminal/shell windows
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[personal profile] exor674 2012-07-08 01:42 pm (UTC)(link)
kraig: Salty+Zack (Default)

[personal profile] kraig 2012-07-08 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I've used and liked all of Andale Mono (should be easily available), Anonymous Pro, Proggy, and, briefly, Inconsolata.

None of them suffer from the 0/O 1/l problems.

This page lists these and a few more.
kraig: Snow (pic#325880)

[personal profile] kraig 2012-07-08 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, it seems like a silly reason to not like a font, at least it does to me, but at the same time, usability is usability is highly personal. There's a couple fonts I liked but rejected for the same sort of reason. I have widescreen displays everywhere now, so I prefer wide and short to skinny and tall.
vass: Small turtle with green leaf in its mouth (Default)

[personal profile] vass 2012-07-09 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
Sing it! I have been wishing for some time that there was some way to tell 1Password not to generate passwords with 1s or ls or Is or even is.
alierak: (Default)

[personal profile] alierak 2012-07-09 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
I use Bitstream Vera Sans Mono (VeraMono.ttf). It has good 0/O and l/1 distinction like the ubuntu fonts, and it comes with X11 on a variety of platforms including the Mac.