1287686 - [Regression] Thunderbird does not see Bitmap fonts anymore

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1180383

(Thunderbird :: OS Integration, defect)

Description

[[e-mail]]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux i686; rv:47.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/47.0
Build ID: 20160606114227

Steps to reproduce:

1. Install font:
  sudo apt-get install xfonts-terminus
2. Open Thunderbird with version "Thunderbird 45.2.0" (test using "$ thunderbird --version")
3. Open Edit-Preferences-Display and try to select Terminus from font list.


Actual results:

There is no more Terminus in font list.


Expected results:

Looks like similar to Bug 324706 - Wrong fonts used in cairo builds (Bitmap fonts not used).
But now it appear on Linux (Ubuntu), first time after more than a decade of using Thunderbird.
After recent automatic update, Thunderbird does not see Bitmap fonts anymore (particularly, Terminus).
This is fatal.
It is known that version "Thunderbird 38.8.0" still not have this regression.
Please fix this regression while it is not too late.
I know that Cairo is buggy (Ubuntu bug# 1294699), but please never try to fix it just by removing critical functionality. LibreOffice doing so, and it is almost unusable due to absence of Bitmap font in user interface.
Thanks.

Linux test-ssd 3.19.0-65-generic #73~14.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Wed Jun 29 21:07:17 UTC 2016 i686 i686 i686 GNU/Linux
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS"

Comment 1

[:aceman]

I think this is the result of some internal Gecko rendering changes which we can't do much about. Please see bug 1180383 and bug 1243194.

But I think there exists a TTF version of terminus font that you can install and use in Firefox/Thunderbird .

Comment 2

[[e-mail]]

Aceman, please note: my bug is about Thunderbird (only). 
My Firefox (Mozilla Firefox 47.0) is not affected, and still work with Terminus just fine. 
Furthermore, some time ago (about 6-12 months) it was fixed for solve Cairo bug (Ubuntu Bug #1294699) - while it was not Firefox problem at all, but it was (is) Cairo problem (still a half of Ubuntu apps not working without my solution as described here: Ubuntu Bug #1476736). But the fact is working Firefox - so i may think it is not global/Gecko trouble.
I am report about Thunderbird regression.
So duplicate status may be wrong.
I can not use TTF fonts (particularly, TTF Terminus) due to a number of reasons; one is, these fonts always tend to be scaled (because there is no more system way to hardly tie display metrics to rendering engine - too many layers nowadays between them), but i need pixel-precise sharp display output.
P.S. In rare case when this bug can't be solved by Mozilla Team, please give me an idea where i can report this upsteram (Gecko? Which part of it?) But working Firefox clearly shows that this problem is under control.
Thanks.

Comment 3

[[e-mail]]

I am sorry, Firefox need to be additionally tested, i will do it now (so duplicate status may be correct) Thanks

Comment 4

[[e-mail]]

Firefox was not working on one machine, but other is working; difference was 'gfx.font_rendering.fontconfig.fontlist.enabled' config option. So - it is working with Terminus (with this compatibility option active (False)).
Mozilla Firefox 47.0
Thanks.

Comment 5

[:aceman]

(In reply to [e-mail] from comment #4)
> Firefox was not working on one machine, but other is working; difference was
> 'gfx.font_rendering.fontconfig.fontlist.enabled' config option. So - it is
> working with Terminus (with this compatibility option active (False)).

So can you try setting the option in Thunderbird too?

(In reply to [e-mail] from comment #2)
> I can not use TTF fonts (particularly, TTF Terminus) due to a number of
> reasons; one is, these fonts always tend to be scaled (because there is no
> more system way to hardly tie display metrics to rendering engine - too many
> layers nowadays between them), but i need pixel-precise sharp display output.

You can have TTF and bitmap version of Terminus installed and TB will only use the TTF one and other apps can still use the bitmap version.

Comment 6

[[e-mail]]

Yes, i finally find that Thunderbird really have advanced settings as in Firefox, i try it and it works (the same config key). Did not know before about these; for more than a decade, Thunderbird just work without any advanced tricks, such stability is quite rare today.
Thank you so much!