Fonts

Foreword

The bulk of Fedora software relies on OpenType compliance and was tested against compliant fonts.

Unfortunately, most font makers feel the OpenType specification is a document written by “software people” for “software people”. They spurn its recommendations. They can not be relied upon to release fonts in a software-friendly state, nor to fix the resulting problems, nor to provide useful advice.

To enable the packaging of fonts by non experts, Checklist provides a list of sanity rules. Most are short unambiguous one liners, easy to understand and apply. Do read this list, even if it feels long. Unless your upstream is a model of discipline, you WILL need it. Avoid Exceptions if you do not feel ambitious – here be dragons.

Once you sorted what to package using the checklist, the rpm-specific part of fonts packaging is simple:

  • take our spec templates,

  • fill in the blanks with descriptions and the file lists resulting from the sorting.

Fedora automation will do the rest.

Tooling provides in-depth documentation of those templates, and other operational tips. The operational tips are useful. The spec templates documentation, not so much. The templates are commented and will usually be self-explanatory.

Lastly, Rationale provides some help, in case a third party attempts to confuse you. A lot of upstreams are dead set against applying OpenType recommendations. They will provide elaborate argumentation, on why the common rule does not apply to them.

Checklist

Legal

Packaging unit: an ideal font family

Because fonts upstreams are, on average, extremely messy, a large part of packaging fonts involves sorting files and fixing font file metadata to produce the consistent and reliable font catalog expected by applications and users.

Font family

A font family is composed of font files, that share a single design, and differ ONLY in:

Weight

Bold, Black…
Width∕Stretch

Narrow, Condensed, Expanded…
Slope/Slant

Italic, Oblique
Optical sizing

Caption…

Those parameters correspond to the default axes of OpenType variable fonts.

  • Packagers MUST apply the definition provided in this section to determine font family boundaries,

    • it takes precedence over application support concerns, over upstream and packager habits and practices.

See also the Fontconfig section.

Font file formats

OpenType: one standard, five formats

OpenType uses an SFNT container around bitmaps (*.otb) and outlines in TT (*.ttf) or CFF (*.otf) formats. Multiple fonts can be consolidated in a single collection (*.ttc or *.otc).

  • Other font formats MUST be converted to OpenType,

    • except for fonts, intended to be used in the console (NOT a terminal emulator): see Bitmap console fonts.

  • Font packages MUST NOT contain font files in non OpenType formats.

Font packages

A font package, is an installation (RPM) package, containing OpenType font files. It MAY be produced by a source (SRPM) package, that also produces other (font or non-font) packages. Other kinds of font packages are out of scope for this document.

  • A font family MUST NOT be packaged in multiple or mixed OpenType formats,

  • Both variable and non-variable OpenType font files, SHOULD be packaged, for a given font family.

  • OpenType format mixing SHOULD be justified in a comment within the spec file.

  • OpenType collection formats SHOULD be avoided.

Fontconfig

  • Font packages SHOULD include the fontconfig files, that define the selection and substitution rules applying to their font files,

    • written by the packager if upstream does not provide them.

  • Fontconfig rules MUST rewrite family and style when they are not compliant with OpenType WWS rules:

    • family MUST NOT contain Weight, Width or Slope attributes (ideal WWS family name, Name ID 21),

    • style MUST contain only Weight, Width or Slope attributes (ideal WWS subfamily name, Name ID 22),

    • Name ID 21 & 22 fields may exist or not in the packaged font files, and may be correct or not. The packager MUST set the correct value at the fontconfig level if the value fontconfig extracts from font files is incorrect.

  • Fontconfig rules MUST rewrite family to remove format attributes when they exist,

  • Fontconfig rules MUST rewrite family to remove coverage attributes when they exist,

    • for example: Math, Emoji, Color Emoji, Hebrew, Arabic, Thai, LGC, etc,

    • except when several font files provide the same coverage, requiring a qualifier to distinguish between them; in that case the removal MUST be done for the default file, and other files MUST be treated as parts of separate font families.

  • Fontconfig rules MUST rewrite fullname to <family> <style> if it has a different value,

    • either natively or as a result of previous rewrites,

    • except for the default style, usually Regular, for which fullname = <family>.

  • Fontconfig rules MUST rewrite fontversion when several font files provide the same fullname and have overlapping coverage,

    • either natively or as a result of previous rewrites,

    • fontconfig will merge the result, higher fontversion taking precedence over lower,

    • therefore, fontversion MUST be set by the packager, to define the correct ordering.

  • Fontconfig rules SHOULD define the generic family, a font contributes to,

    • a single generic family: the packager MUST choose,

    • using the correct priority: lower takes precedence over higher.

  • Fontconfig rules SHOULD list what other font families, the provided font family can substitute for.

  • Fontconfig rules SHOULD define the font families, that can be used to complete the font family,

    • in all cases: at least the generic family and the substitutes defined before,

    • generic family last in completion order.

  • Packagers SHOULD attempt upstreaming those fixes,

    • make the font naming correct in the upstream font files,

    • contribute the other fontconfig rules upstream, so they are distributed with the font files.

  • Packagers SHOULD consult the fontconfig maintainer and mailing list when in doubt,

    • to get guidance and identify real-world tricky cases that call for fontconfig evolutions.

See also the Tooling section for fontconfig syntax guidance.

Source (SRPM) package break-up

  • Separate source archives MUST be packaged in separate spec files,

    • except when those contain parts of the same font family and upstream coordinates their release.

  • spec files SHOULD track a single font family,

    • except when distinct font families are only released upstream in a common archive.

  • Packagers SHOULD ask upstream to split unrelated font families in separate versioned source archives,

    • and package font families from their actual respective upstreams when they are bundled with other material in a third party project.

Installation (RPM) package break-up: font packages

  • Packagers MUST ship each font family in a single dedicated font package,

    • all the files that, after fontconfig fixing,

      • share the same family value: family = <common family>

      • or differ only in optical sizing: family = <common family> <optical sizing attribute>,

    • except when released as un-coordinated sources, that are easier to track in separate spec files,

    • except for huge families, that consume a lot of storage space; huge font families MAY be broken up in coverage-specific font packages,

    • see Assembling same-family font packages.

  • Font packages MUST limit themsemselves to OpenType font files and their associated fontconfig, appstream, legal and documentation files,

    • for reasonable non-bulky interpretations of documentation files.

See also the Tooling section.

Other upstream files

Support for other font systems, for specific applications, non-OpenType font formats, bulky documentation, TEX, CSS, or JSON files… MUST be split in separate non-font packages, that SHOULD install outside /usr/share/fonts, and MUST NOT use <something>-fonts naming.

For compatibility reasons, OpenType font files MAY be exposed outside /usr/share/fonts, with the rest of upstream files, using symbolic links. Those symbolic links SHOULD NOT be installed by the font package itself.

Building

  • Packagers SHOULD build font files from sources,

    • whenever their prefered modification format is not the packaged OpenType format

    • and if the required toolchain is available as free software under Linux

Dependencies in font packages

  • Font packages MAY require or supplement other font packages, when they contain the same font family,

  • Font packages SHOULD recommend other font packages, when they contain a reused font family,

  • Font packages SHOULD suggest other font packages, when they contain a better version of the same font family,

    • better: more complete coverage, later enhanced fork, canonical version of the design…

  • Font packages MAY suggest or enhance font packages, containing other font families,

    • this should be used sparsely, to avoid imposing packager preferences on users.

  • Font packages SHOULD depend on the basic font support package set, defined in the font packaging templates and macros.

  • Except for the preceding, font packages MUST NOT depend, in any form, on any other package.

Dependencies to font packages in other packages

  • Non-font packages MAY suggest or recommend font packages,

    • the weakest Suggests form is preferred over Recommends, except in presence of strong pre-existing user habits.

  • Non-font packages SHOULD use the font() namespace to depend on font packages.

  • Non-font packages SHOULD NOT require specific font packages, and leave font selection to end-users,

  • Non-font packages SHOULD require font(:lang=en) when they fail in the absence of system fonts,

    • hardcoding specific font families is not future-proof.

  • Non-font packages MAY require font packages by name, when relying on specific on-disk font file paths,

    • ie when software is not fontconfig-aware,

    • however, there is no obligation for font packagers to keep those paths stable between releases. Font file formats are flexible, making any on-disk file layout temporary. Converting applications to fontconfig use is best.

Assembling different-family font packages: partial designs

Font reuse and font extension

Because font creation is hard work, font designers will often publish partial new designs:

  • they will copy part of an existing design, then add to it; this is common practice when designing a non-latin-oriented font family – the latin core is taken from an existing family,

  • or they will publish their additions as a separate font family, documenting it should be used with the original family; this is common practice when publishing alternate designs for part of a font.

When packaging such a partial design:

  • The font package containing the new font family SHOULD recommend the package containing the original font family,

  • Re-use recommendations SHOULD use the font() namespace.

Assembling different-family font packages: font metapackages

  • Packagers MAY provide convenience font metapackages,

    • for example, when an upstream releases a collection of font families, intended to be used together,

    • a common case is matched serif, sans-serif and monospaced font families.

  • Font metapackages MUST NOT use the same naming conventions as actual font packages,

    • they MUST NOT be named <something>-fonts,

    • they MAY be named <something>-fonts-all.

  • Font metapackages MUST require, recommend or suggest separate font packages, that conform to this document,

  • Font metapackages SHOULD use the font() namespace to require, recommend or suggest actual font packages,

  • Font metapackages SHOULD NOT contain any other file, except for documentation.

Exceptions

Bitmap console fonts

  • Bitmap console fonts MAY be packaged in a legacy font format, understood by kbd.

  • Bitmap console fonts MUST be installed in /lib/kbd/consolefonts/ not /usr/share/fonts.

  • Bitmap console font packages SHOULD be named <something>-fonts-console not <something>-fonts.

Console fonts

As long as kbd and systemd-vconsole can not use the same file formats as the rest of the system, bitmap console fonts are effectively private kbd resources. They will be ignored in the rest of this document. It does not apply to them.

Assembling same-family font packages

  • A font family MUST NOT be split over several font packages, unless one of the exceptions listed above applies.

When a font family is split over a set of several font packages:

  • Involved packagers MUST choose a core font package.

  • This core package SHOULD contain the font files, necessary to provide a minimal scope of the font family.

  • This core package MAY contain fontconfig rules, for all the font files composinng the font family,

    • fontconfig ignores rules that do not match installed files.

  • This core package MUST be named as if it contained the whole font family.

  • This core package MUST NOT require any other package in the set.

  • The other packages of the set MUST require, directly or indirectly, this core package.

  • The other packages of the set MUST supplement, directly or indirectly, this core package.

  • The other packages of the set MUST NOT use the font() namespace to require or supplement other parts of the set,

    • Splitting a font family interacts badly with font() auto-provides.

  • All the packages involved in an indirect require or supplement chain MUST be part of the set.

Packaging a font family in multiple OpenType formats; application support

  • Packagers MUST make a reasonable effort, to get applications that do not support all OpenType formats, fixed upstream.

  • If that fails, as a last ressort, packagers MAY request a FESCo exemption, to package a limited number of font families in multiple OpenType formats.

  • Packagers MUST ensure that the resulting additional font data, is separated in distinct font packages,

    • that the average Fedora user can install those font families in a single format,

    • that he is not left wondering, which package to install.

Tooling

Creating font packages by hand can be extremely repetitive, error-prone and labor-intensive. Therefore, fonts packaging is heavily automated. It relies on numerous macros and variables to define what goes where.

Those macros and variables are defined in the fonts-rpm-macros package. The fonts-rpm-templates package contains spec and fontconfig templates, corresponding to common fonts packaging needs.

Fontconfig

The fonts-rpm-templates package contains fontconfig templates, corresponding to common fonts packaging needs.

Using fontconfig, you can help users and software make sense of broken font files.

On brokenness and interoperability

Fixing may imply behaviour differences, with entities that chose another mitigation strategy. The root cause of those differences is the upstream release of files in a broken state. Producing daring glyph shapes is the designer prerogative. That artistic license does not extend to flouting technical conventions, software relies on.

Upstream should always be given the chance to fix its files. If it does not care about our needs, fixing downstream is second best. Inflicting intact breakage on our users is always worst.

Some applications

  • The Foo project releases Foo Narrow Oblique. Because the font maker remembers early font formats only allowed 4-style family grouping (Name ID 1 and 2), it declares it as family: Foo Narrow and style: Oblique. The fontconfig rules for Foo Narrow Oblique MUST rewrite it to the recommended WWS-compliant family: Foo and style: Narrow Oblique (Name ID 16/17 or 21/22).

  • The Foo project releases the Universal Foo wide-coverage font family. To allow installing only part of this family, it splits it in Universal Foo, Universal Foo Hebrew and Universal Foo Thai. The fontconfig rules for Universal Foo MUST rewrite the family (and therefore fullname) for all Universal Foo Hebrew and Universal Foo Thai font files, so they declare Universal Foo instead. Fontconfig will present the result as a single wide-encoding family to applications, even if the files remain split on-disk, even if all of them are not installed.

  • The Foo project releases Foo Sans. The fontconfig rules for Foo Sans SHOULD declare any missing glyph can be taken from the sans-serif generic font family.

  • The GNOME project releases the Bitstream Vera set of font families; later the DejaVu project forks and extends those fonts. The fontconfig rules for DejaVu Sans SHOULD declare it can be substituted for Bitstream Vera Sans.

  • Microsoft ships Windows with the Arial font family. Due to its long and wide availability, Arial is now used in many documents. However it can not be included in Free Desktop systems for licensing reasons. Red Hat commissions an Arial substitute, Liberation Sans, for use on Linux. Google commissions another Arial substiture, Arimo, for use on ChromeOS. The fontconfig rules for Liberation Sans SHOULD declare it can be substituted for both Arial and Arimo.

Style naming

The OpenType specification, the CSS specification and the fontconfig manual document the canonical mappings of style keywords.

Those mappings are not absolute. The addition of variable capabilities enabled the creation of new keywords and axes values, including in non variable font files.

Nevertheless, the OpenType specification requires correlating the new capabilities with the traditional keyword scale:

  • an axis step, with a value, close to one of the specification keywords, SHOULD be named with this keyword,

    • a slight deviation from the canonical keyword value, for design reasons, is expected and accepted.

  • an axis step, SHOULD NOT be named with a keyword, when its value differs greatly from the keyword canonical value,

    • font files that define new intermediary steps should also define new keywords.

Additionnally:

  • axis keywords SHOULD NOT use whitespace, due to software processing constraints,

    • SemiCondensed is a good keyword; Semi Condensed — not.

  • keywords SHOULD be assembled in width weight slant order in style names, for historical reasons,

    • with the default Regular ommited except when alone.

Checking results

To verify the metadata of font files installed by a package named ${pkg}:

Check command
fc-scan -f \
 "%{family[0]};%{style[0]};%{fullname[0]};%{width};%{weight};%{slant};%{fontversion};%{file}\n" \
 /usr/share/fonts/${pkg} | sort -t ';' -k1,1d -k4,4n -k5,5n -k6,6n -k2,2d -k7,7dr \
 | uniq | column --separator ';' -t
Command output, before fixes
Accanthis ADF Std         Regular                      AccanthisADFStd-Regular                        100       80       0    131400  /usr/share/fonts/adf-accanthis-fonts/AccanthisADFStd-Regular.otf
Accanthis ADF Std         Italic                       AccanthisADFStd-Italic                         100       80       100  131400  /usr/share/fonts/adf-accanthis-fonts/AccanthisADFStd-Italic.otf
Accanthis ADF Std         Bold                         AccanthisADFStd-Bold                           100       200      0    131400  /usr/share/fonts/adf-accanthis-fonts/AccanthisADFStd-Bold.otf
Accanthis ADF Std         Bold Italic                  AccanthisADFStd-BoldItalic                     100       200      100  131400  /usr/share/fonts/adf-accanthis-fonts/AccanthisADFStd-BoldItalic.otf
Dai Banna SIL Book        Regular                      Dai Banna SIL Book                             100       80       0    144179  /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILBR.ttf
Dai Banna SIL Book        Italic                       Dai Banna SIL Book Italic                      100       80       100  144179  /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILBO.ttf
Dai Banna SIL Book        Bold                         Dai Banna SIL Book Bold                        100       200      0    144179  /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILBB.ttf
Dai Banna SIL Book        Bold Italic                  Dai Banna SIL Book Bold Italic                 100       200      100  144179  /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILBC.ttf
Dai Banna SIL Light       Regular                      Dai Banna SIL Light                            100       80       0    144179  /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILLR.ttf
Dai Banna SIL Light       Italic                       Dai Banna SIL Light Italic                     100       80       100  144179  /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILLO.ttf
Dai Banna SIL Light       Bold                         Dai Banna SIL Light Bold                       100       200      0    144179  /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILLB.ttf
Dai Banna SIL Light       Bold Italic                  Dai Banna SIL Light Bold Italic                100       200      100  144179  /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILLC.ttf
IBM Plex Sans             Thin                         IBM Plex Sans Thin                             100       0        0    196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Thin Italic                  IBM Plex Sans Thin Italic                      100       0        100  196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-ThinItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans             ExtraLight                   IBM Plex Sans ExtraLight                       100       40       0    196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans             ExtraLight Italic            IBM Plex Sans ExtraLight Italic                100       40       100  196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-ExtraLightItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Light                        IBM Plex Sans Light                            100       50       0    196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Light Italic                 IBM Plex Sans Light Italic                     100       50       100  196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-LightItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Regular                      IBM Plex Sans                                  100       80       0    196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Italic                       IBM Plex Sans Italic                           100       80       100  196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Italic.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Text                         IBM Plex Sans Text                             100       90       0    196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Text Italic                  IBM Plex Sans Text Italic                      100       90       100  196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-TextItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Medium                       IBM Plex Sans Medium                           100       100      0    196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Medium Italic                IBM Plex Sans Medium Italic                    100       100      100  196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-MediumItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans             SemiBold                     IBM Plex Sans SemiBold                         100       180      0    196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans             SemiBold Italic              IBM Plex Sans SemiBold Italic                  100       180      100  196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-SemiBoldItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Bold                         IBM Plex Sans Bold                             100       200      0    196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans             Bold Italic                  IBM Plex Sans Bold Italic                      100       200      100  196673  /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-BoldItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans Arabic      Thin                         IBM Plex Sans Arabic Thin                      100       0        0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans Arabic      ExtraLight                   IBM Plex Sans Arabic ExtraLight                100       40       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans Arabic      Light                        IBM Plex Sans Arabic Light                     100       50       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans Arabic      Regular                      IBM Plex Sans Arabic                           100       80       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans Arabic      Text                         IBM Plex Sans Arabic Text                      100       90       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans Arabic      Medium                       IBM Plex Sans Arabic Medium                    100       100      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans Arabic      SemiBold                     IBM Plex Sans Arabic SemiBold                  100       180      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans Arabic      Bold                         IBM Plex Sans Arabic Bold                      100       200      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Thin                         IBM Plex Sans Condensed Thin                   75        0        0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Thin Italic                  IBM Plex Sans Condensed Thin Italic            75        0        100  65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-ThinItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   ExtraLight                   IBM Plex Sans Condensed ExtraLight             75        40       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   ExtraLight Italic            IBM Plex Sans Condensed ExtraLight Italic      75        40       100  65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-ExtraLightItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Light                        IBM Plex Sans Condensed Light                  75        50       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Light Italic                 IBM Plex Sans Condensed Light Italic           75        50       100  65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-LightItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Regular                      IBM Plex Sans Condensed                        75        80       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Italic                       IBM Plex Sans Condensed Italic                 75        80       100  65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Italic.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Text                         IBM Plex Sans Condensed Text                   75        90       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Text Italic                  IBM Plex Sans Condensed Text Italic            75        90       100  65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-TextItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Medium                       IBM Plex Sans Condensed Medium                 75        100      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Medium Italic                IBM Plex Sans Condensed Medium Italic          75        100      100  65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-MediumItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   SemiBold                     IBM Plex Sans Condensed SemiBold               75        180      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   SemiBold Italic              IBM Plex Sans Condensed SemiBold Italic        75        180      100  65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-SemiBoldItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Bold                         IBM Plex Sans Condensed Bold                   75        200      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans Condensed   Bold Italic                  IBM Plex Sans Condensed Bold Italic            75        200      100  65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-BoldItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans Devanagari  Thin                         IBM Plex Sans Devanagari Thin                  100       0        0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans Devanagari  ExtraLight                   IBM Plex Sans Devanagari ExtraLight            100       40       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans Devanagari  Light                        IBM Plex Sans Devanagari Light                 100       50       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans Devanagari  Regular                      IBM Plex Sans Devanagari                       100       80       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans Devanagari  Text                         IBM Plex Sans Devanagari Text                  100       90       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans Devanagari  Medium                       IBM Plex Sans Devanagari Medium                100       100      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans Devanagari  SemiBold                     IBM Plex Sans Devanagari SemiBold              100       180      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans Devanagari  Bold                         IBM Plex Sans Devanagari Bold                  100       200      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans Hebrew      Thin                         IBM Plex Sans Hebrew Thin                      100       0        0    65667   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans Hebrew      ExtraLight                   IBM Plex Sans Hebrew ExtraLight                100       40       0    65667   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans Hebrew      Light                        IBM Plex Sans Hebrew Light                     100       50       0    65667   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans Hebrew      Regular                      IBM Plex Sans Hebrew                           100       80       0    65667   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans Hebrew      Text                         IBM Plex Sans Hebrew Text                      100       90       0    65667   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans Hebrew      Medium                       IBM Plex Sans Hebrew Medium                    100       100      0    65667   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans Hebrew      SemiBold                     IBM Plex Sans Hebrew SemiBold                  100       180      0    65667   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans Hebrew      Bold                         IBM Plex Sans Hebrew Bold                      100       200      0    65667   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans Thai        Thin                         IBM Plex Sans Thai Thin                        100       0        0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans Thai        ExtraLight                   IBM Plex Sans Thai ExtraLight                  100       40       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans Thai        Light                        IBM Plex Sans Thai Light                       100       50       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans Thai        Regular                      IBM Plex Sans Thai                             100       80       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans Thai        Text                         IBM Plex Sans Thai Text                        100       90       0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans Thai        Medium                       IBM Plex Sans Thai Medium                      100       100      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans Thai        SemiBold                     IBM Plex Sans Thai SemiBold                    100       180      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans Thai        Bold                         IBM Plex Sans Thai Bold                        100       200      0    65601   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans Var                                      IBM Plex Sans Var Regular                      [85 100]  [0 200]  0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var                                      IBM Plex Sans Var Italic                       [85 100]  [0 200]  100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Thin Condensed               IBM Plex Sans Var Thin Condensed               85        0        0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Thin Condensed Italic        IBM Plex Sans Var Thin Condensed Italic        85        0        100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         ExtraLight Condensed         IBM Plex Sans Var ExtraLight Condensed         85        40       0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         ExtraLight Condensed Italic  IBM Plex Sans Var ExtraLight Condensed Italic  85        40       100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Light Condensed              IBM Plex Sans Var Light Condensed              85        50       0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Light Condensed Italic       IBM Plex Sans Var Light Condensed Italic       85        50       100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Condensed                    IBM Plex Sans Var Condensed                    85        80       0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Condensed Italic             IBM Plex Sans Var Condensed Italic             85        80       100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Text Condensed               IBM Plex Sans Var Text Condensed               85        90       0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Text Condensed Italic        IBM Plex Sans Var Text Condensed Italic        85        90       100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Medium Condensed             IBM Plex Sans Var Medium Condensed             85        100      0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Medium Condensed Italic      IBM Plex Sans Var Medium Condensed Italic      85        100      100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         SemiBold Condensed           IBM Plex Sans Var SemiBold Condensed           85        180      0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         SemiBold Condensed Italic    IBM Plex Sans Var SemiBold Condensed Italic    85        180      100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Bold Condensed               IBM Plex Sans Var Bold Condensed               85        200      0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Bold Condensed Italic        IBM Plex Sans Var Bold Condensed Italic        85        200      100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Thin                         IBM Plex Sans Var Thin                         100       0        0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Thin Italic                  IBM Plex Sans Var Thin Italic                  100       0        100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         ExtraLight                   IBM Plex Sans Var ExtraLight                   100       40       0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         ExtraLight Italic            IBM Plex Sans Var ExtraLight Italic            100       40       100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Light                        IBM Plex Sans Var Light                        100       50       0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Light Italic                 IBM Plex Sans Var Light Italic                 100       50       100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Regular                      IBM Plex Sans Var Regular                      100       80       0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Italic                       IBM Plex Sans Var Italic                       100       80       100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Text                         IBM Plex Sans Var Text                         100       90       0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Text Italic                  IBM Plex Sans Var Text Italic                  100       90       100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Medium                       IBM Plex Sans Var Medium                       100       100      0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Medium Italic                IBM Plex Sans Var Medium Italic                100       100      100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         SemiBold                     IBM Plex Sans Var SemiBold                     100       180      0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         SemiBold Italic              IBM Plex Sans Var SemiBold Italic              100       180      100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Bold                         IBM Plex Sans Var Bold                         100       200      0    65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans Var         Bold Italic                  IBM Plex Sans Var Bold Italic                  100       200      100  65536   /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
…
Command output, once fixed
Accanthis ADF Std  Regular                          Accanthis ADF Std                              100       80       0    131400  /usr/share/fonts/adf-accanthis-fonts/AccanthisADFStd-Regular.otf
Accanthis ADF Std  Italic                           Accanthis ADF Std Italic                       100       80       100  131400  /usr/share/fonts/adf-accanthis-fonts/AccanthisADFStd-Italic.otf
Accanthis ADF Std  Bold                             Accanthis ADF Std Bold                         100       200      0    131400  /usr/share/fonts/adf-accanthis-fonts/AccanthisADFStd-Bold.otf
Accanthis ADF Std  Bold Italic                      Accanthis ADF Std Bold Italic                  100       200      100  131400  /usr/share/fonts/adf-accanthis-fonts/AccanthisADFStd-BoldItalic.otf
Dai Banna SIL      Light                            Dai Banna SIL Light                            100       50       0    1       /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILLR.ttf
Dai Banna SIL      Light Italic                     Dai Banna SIL Light Italic                     100       80       100  1       /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILLO.ttf
Dai Banna SIL      Medium Italic                    Dai Banna SIL Medium Italic                    100       80       100  2       /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILBO.ttf
Dai Banna SIL      Medium                           Dai Banna SIL Medium                           100       100      0    2       /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILBR.ttf
Dai Banna SIL      Medium                           Dai Banna SIL Medium                           100       100      0    1       /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILLB.ttf
Dai Banna SIL      Black Italic                     Dai Banna SIL Black Italic                     100       200      100  2       /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILBC.ttf
Dai Banna SIL      Medium Italic                    Dai Banna SIL Medium Italic                    100       200      100  1       /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILLC.ttf
Dai Banna SIL      Black                            Dai Banna SIL Black                            100       210      0    2       /usr/share/fonts/sil-dai-banna-fonts/DBSILBB.ttf
IBM Plex Sans                                       IBM Plex Sans                                  [85 100]  [0 200]  0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans                                       IBM Plex Sans                                  [85 100]  [0 200]  100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Thin               IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Thin               85        0        0    6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Thin               IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Thin               85        0        0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Thin Italic        IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Thin Italic        85        0        100  6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-ThinItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Thin Italic        IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Thin Italic        85        0        100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed ExtraLight         IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed ExtraLight         85        40       0    6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed ExtraLight         IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed ExtraLight         85        40       0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed ExtraLight Italic  IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed ExtraLight Italic  85        40       100  6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-ExtraLightItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed ExtraLight Italic  IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed ExtraLight Italic  85        40       100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Light              IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Light              85        50       0    6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Light              IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Light              85        50       0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Light Italic       IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Light Italic       85        50       100  6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-LightItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Light Italic       IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Light Italic       85        50       100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed                    IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed                    85        80       0    6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed                    IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed                    85        80       0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Italic             IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Italic             85        80       100  6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Italic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Italic             IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Italic             85        80       100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Text               IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Text               85        90       0    6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Text               IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Text               85        90       0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Text Italic        IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Text Italic        85        90       100  6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-TextItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Text Italic        IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Text Italic        85        90       100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Medium             IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Medium             85        100      0    6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Medium             IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Medium             85        100      0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Medium Italic      IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Medium Italic      85        100      100  6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-MediumItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Medium Italic      IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Medium Italic      85        100      100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed SemiBold           IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed SemiBold           85        180      0    6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed SemiBold           IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed SemiBold           85        180      0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed SemiBold Italic    IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed SemiBold Italic    85        180      100  6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-SemiBoldItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed SemiBold Italic    IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed SemiBold Italic    85        180      100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Bold               IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Bold               85        200      0    6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Bold               IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Bold               85        200      0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Bold Italic        IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Bold Italic        85        200      100  6       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansCondensed-BoldItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiCondensed Bold Italic        IBM Plex Sans SemiCondensed Bold Italic        85        200      100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Thin                             IBM Plex Sans Thin                             100       0        0    7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Thin                             IBM Plex Sans Thin                             100       0        0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Thin                             IBM Plex Sans Thin                             100       0        0    4       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Thin                             IBM Plex Sans Thin                             100       0        0    3       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Thin                             IBM Plex Sans Thin                             100       0        0    2       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Thin                             IBM Plex Sans Thin                             100       0        0    1       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Thin.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Thin Italic                      IBM Plex Sans Thin Italic                      100       0        100  7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-ThinItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Thin Italic                      IBM Plex Sans Thin Italic                      100       0        100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      ExtraLight                       IBM Plex Sans ExtraLight                       100       40       0    7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans      ExtraLight                       IBM Plex Sans ExtraLight                       100       40       0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      ExtraLight                       IBM Plex Sans ExtraLight                       100       40       0    4       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans      ExtraLight                       IBM Plex Sans ExtraLight                       100       40       0    3       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans      ExtraLight                       IBM Plex Sans ExtraLight                       100       40       0    2       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans      ExtraLight                       IBM Plex Sans ExtraLight                       100       40       0    1       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-ExtraLight.otf
IBM Plex Sans      ExtraLight Italic                IBM Plex Sans ExtraLight Italic                100       40       100  7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-ExtraLightItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      ExtraLight Italic                IBM Plex Sans ExtraLight Italic                100       40       100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Light                            IBM Plex Sans Light                            100       50       0    7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Light                            IBM Plex Sans Light                            100       50       0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Light                            IBM Plex Sans Light                            100       50       0    4       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Light                            IBM Plex Sans Light                            100       50       0    3       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Light                            IBM Plex Sans Light                            100       50       0    2       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Light                            IBM Plex Sans Light                            100       50       0    1       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Light.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Light Italic                     IBM Plex Sans Light Italic                     100       50       100  7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-LightItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Light Italic                     IBM Plex Sans Light Italic                     100       50       100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Regular                          IBM Plex Sans                                  100       80       0    7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Regular                          IBM Plex Sans                                  100       80       0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Regular                          IBM Plex Sans                                  100       80       0    4       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Regular                          IBM Plex Sans                                  100       80       0    3       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Regular                          IBM Plex Sans                                  100       80       0    2       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Regular                          IBM Plex Sans                                  100       80       0    1       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Regular.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Italic                           IBM Plex Sans Italic                           100       80       100  7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Italic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Italic                           IBM Plex Sans Italic                           100       80       100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Text                             IBM Plex Sans Text                             100       90       0    7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Text                             IBM Plex Sans Text                             100       90       0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Text                             IBM Plex Sans Text                             100       90       0    4       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Text                             IBM Plex Sans Text                             100       90       0    3       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Text                             IBM Plex Sans Text                             100       90       0    2       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Text                             IBM Plex Sans Text                             100       90       0    1       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Text.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Text Italic                      IBM Plex Sans Text Italic                      100       90       100  7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-TextItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Text Italic                      IBM Plex Sans Text Italic                      100       90       100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Medium                           IBM Plex Sans Medium                           100       100      0    7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Medium                           IBM Plex Sans Medium                           100       100      0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Medium                           IBM Plex Sans Medium                           100       100      0    4       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Medium                           IBM Plex Sans Medium                           100       100      0    3       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Medium                           IBM Plex Sans Medium                           100       100      0    2       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Medium                           IBM Plex Sans Medium                           100       100      0    1       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Medium.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Medium Italic                    IBM Plex Sans Medium Italic                    100       100      100  7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-MediumItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Medium Italic                    IBM Plex Sans Medium Italic                    100       100      100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiBold                         IBM Plex Sans SemiBold                         100       180      0    7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiBold                         IBM Plex Sans SemiBold                         100       180      0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiBold                         IBM Plex Sans SemiBold                         100       180      0    4       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiBold                         IBM Plex Sans SemiBold                         100       180      0    3       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiBold                         IBM Plex Sans SemiBold                         100       180      0    2       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiBold                         IBM Plex Sans SemiBold                         100       180      0    1       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-SemiBold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiBold Italic                  IBM Plex Sans SemiBold Italic                  100       180      100  7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-SemiBoldItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      SemiBold Italic                  IBM Plex Sans SemiBold Italic                  100       180      100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Bold                             IBM Plex Sans Bold                             100       200      0    7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Bold                             IBM Plex Sans Bold                             100       200      0    5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Roman.ttf
IBM Plex Sans      Bold                             IBM Plex Sans Bold                             100       200      0    4       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansArabic-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Bold                             IBM Plex Sans Bold                             100       200      0    3       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansHebrew-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Bold                             IBM Plex Sans Bold                             100       200      0    2       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansThai-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Bold                             IBM Plex Sans Bold                             100       200      0    1       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansDevanagari-Bold.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Bold Italic                      IBM Plex Sans Bold Italic                      100       200      100  7       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSans-BoldItalic.otf
IBM Plex Sans      Bold Italic                      IBM Plex Sans Bold Italic                      100       200      100  5       /usr/share/fonts/ibm-plex-sans-fonts/IBMPlexSansVar-Italic.ttf
…

Spec template documentation

The fonts-rpm-templates package contains spec templates, corresponding to common fonts packaging needs.

Packaging a single font family

This is the simplest packaging pattern, when upstream releases:

  • a single font family,

  • conforming to this guideline’s definition of a font family,

  • in a single dedicated source archive,

  • without any specific difficulty.

Macros and variables
Declaration ordering

Changing the proposed line order will more often than not result in a spec file that still works. That may be tempting, since the suggested order is far from traditional.

Be aware that this particular order was selected after reworking a large pool of test files, to maximize commonalities, and reduce divergence between packaging situations. Reordering may still work but the result will be harder to review, refactor, and copy in other spec files.
SRPM generic declarations

This pattern starts with a block of traditional spec declarations:

SRPM generic declarations
Version:
Release:
URL:
Shared font declarations

Then it declares elements, that will be shared by all the packaged font families. Here, we only process one of those, but the block will be at the same place in the other patterns.

%{foundry}

an optional upstream identifier, when upstream publishes multiple font families, with consistent QA rules. Font families released by the same upstream will usually play well with one another. Marking them as such helps users choose good font package sets.
%{fontlicense}

the identifier of the font family license, according to our licensing rules.

Those identifiers are followed by variables, containing:

  • lists of space-separated shell globs,

  • matching the files associated with the font family,

  • as they exist in the build root at the end of the %build stage.

%{fontlicenses}

the font family legal files
%{fontdocs}

the font family documentation files
%{fontdocsex}

exclusions from the %{fontdocs} list
Shared font declarations
%global foundry           SIL
%global fontlicense       OFL-1.1
%global fontlicenses      OFL.txt
%global fontdocs          *.txt
%global fontdocsex        %{fontlicenses}
Family-specific font declarations

This is followed by a family-specific declaration block.

%{fontfamily}

the human-friendly font family name, whitespace included, restricted to the Basic Latin Unicode block.
%{fontsummary}

the generated font package summary. It must be less than 80 columns in length.

This block contains its own shell glob lists.

%{fonts}

the font family font files
%{fontconfs}

the font family fontconfig files

Followed by:

%{fontdescription}

a multi-line description block for the generated package. Each line should be less than 80 columns in length.
Family-specific font declarations
%global fontfamily        Andika
%global fontsummary       SIL Andika, a font family for literacy and beginning readers
%global fonts             *.ttf
%global fontconfs         %{SOURCE10}
%global fontdescription   %{expand:
Andika is a sans serif, Unicode-compliant font family designed especially for
literacy use, taking into account the needs of beginning readers. The focus is
on clear, easy-to-perceive letterforms that will not be readily confused with
one another.}
Source declarations

Then package sources are declared the usual way.

Source declarations
Source:
Source10: [number]-%{fontpkgname}.conf

Keeping fontconfig file names in sync with the package name is a good idea. Take a look at the templates in fonts-rpm-templates for information on how to write good fontconfig files and choose the correct priority [number].

Font package names

Font package names will be automatically computed from the previous declarations, and put into the %{fontpkgname} variable. You MAY override this variable at need. However, needing an override usually indicates that either the upstream font naming is broken, or you’re trying to do something wrong.
Remainer of the spec file

All those declarations are used and processed in the rest of the spec file by the following macros:

%fontpkg

generate font package headers
%fontbuild

perform font-related steps, at the end of the %build section
%fontinstall

perform font-related steps, at the end of the %install section
%fontcheck

perform font-related steps, at the end of the %check section
%fontfiles

generate font package %file lists
Remainer of the spec file
%fontpkg

%prep
%setup

%build
%fontbuild

%install
%fontinstall

%check
%fontcheck

%fontfiles

%changelog
Annotated spec template

Putting it all together:

spectemplate-fonts-0-simple.spec
# Packaging template: basic single-family fonts packaging.
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
#
# This template documents the minimal set of spec declarations, necessary to
# package a single font family, from a single dedicated source archive.
#
# It is part of the following set of packaging templates:
# “fonts-0-simple”: basic single-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-1-full”:   less common patterns for single-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-2-multi”:  multi-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-3-sub”:    packaging fonts, released as part of something else
#
# A font family is composed of font files, that share a single design, and
# differ ONLY in:
# — Weight        Bold, Black…
# – Width∕Stretch Narrow, Condensed, Expanded…
# — Slope/Slant   Italic, Oblique
# Optical sizing  Caption…
#
# Those parameters correspond to the default axes of OpenType variable fonts:
# https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/opentype/spec/dvaraxisreg#registered-axis-tags
# The variable fonts model is an extension of the WWS model described in the
# WPF Font Selection Model whitepaper (2007):
# https://msdnshared.blob.core.windows.net/media/MSDNBlogsFS/prod.evol.blogs.msdn.com/CommunityServer.Components.PostAttachments/00/02/24/90/36/WPF%20Font%20Selection%20Model.pdf
#
# Do not rely on the naming upstream chose, to define family boundaries, it
# will often be wrong.
#
# Declaration order is chosen to limit divergence between those templates, and
# simplify cut and pasting.
#
Version: 
Release: 
URL:     

# The identifier of the entity, that released the font family.
%global foundry           
# The font family license identifier. Adjust as necessary. The OFL is our
# recommended font license.
%global fontlicense       OFL
#
# The following directives are lists of space-separated shell globs
#   – matching files associated with the font family,
#   – as they exist in the build root,
#   — at the end of the %build stage:
# – legal files (licensing…)
%global fontlicenses      OFL.txt
# – documentation files
%global fontdocs          *.txt
# – exclusions from the ”fontdocs” list
%global fontdocsex        %{fontlicenses}

# The human-friendly font family name, whitespace included, restricted to the
# the Basic Latin Unicode block.
%global fontfamily        
%global fontsummary       
#
# More shell glob lists:
# – font family files
%global fonts             *.otf
# – fontconfig files
%global fontconfs         %{SOURCE10}
#
# A multi-line description block for the generated package.
%global fontdescription   %{expand:
}

Source0:  
# Adjust as necessary. Keeping the filename in sync with the package name is a good idea.
# See the fontconfig templates in fonts-rpm-templates for information on how to
# write good fontconfig files and choose the correct priority [number].
Source10: [number]-%{fontpkgname}.conf

%fontpkg

%prep
%setup

%build
%fontbuild

%install
%fontinstall

%check
%fontcheck

%fontfiles

%changelog

Packaging a single font family (advanced)

Sometimes, packaging a font family requires a little more work, with the associated automation. You may need to complete the previous pattern.

Macros and variables
Shared font declarations

One more shell glob list:

%{fontlicensesex}

exclusions from the %{fontlicenses} list
Family-specific font declarations
%{fontpkgheader}

multi-line container for package header directives
Semi-complex family declaration
%global fontfamily        PT Sans
%global fontsummary       PT Sans, a grotesque pan-Cyrillic font family
%global fontpkgheader     %{expand:
Obsoletes: paratype-pt-sans-caption-fonts < %{version}-%{release}
}
%global fonts             PTS*.ttf PTN*.ttf PTC*.ttf
%global fontconfs         %{SOURCE10}
%global fontdescription   %{expand:
The PT Sans family was developed as part of the “Public Types of Russian
Federation” project. This project aims at enabling the peoples of Russia to
read and write their native languages, using free/libre fonts. It is
dedicated to the 300-year anniversary of the Russian civil type invented by
Peter the Great from 1708 to 1710, and was realized with financial support
from the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications.}

… and more shell glob lists:

%{fontsex}

exclusions from the %{fonts} list
%{fontconfsex}

exclusions from the %{fontconfs} list
%{fontappstreams}

the font family appstream files, if any; those files are generated automatically if not specified
%{fontappstreamsex}

exclusions from the %{fontappstreams} list
Remainer of the spec file

Bulky documentation can be split in a separate subpackage

Documentation subpackage
%package   doc
Summary:   %{name} optional documentation files
BuildArch: noarch
%description doc
This package provides optional documentation files shipped with %{name}.

[…]

%files doc
%license OFL.txt
%doc *.pdf

Text files published for other systems may need recoding.

%linuxtext

allows converting upstream files to UTF-8 and Unix end of lines if necessary. It takes the following optional arguments:

  • -e [encoding] source OS encoding (automatically detected otherwise)

  • -n do not recode files, only adjust folding and end of lines
Annotated spec template

Putting it all together:

spectemplate-fonts-1-full.spec
# Packaging template: less common patterns for single-family fonts packaging.
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
#
# This template documents less common spec declarations, used when packaging a
# single font family, from a single dedicated source archive.
#
# It is part of the following set of packaging templates:
# “fonts-0-simple”: basic single-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-1-full”:   less common patterns for single-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-2-multi”:  multi-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-3-sub”:    packaging fonts, released as part of something else
#
Version: 
Release: 
URL:     

%global foundry           
%global fontlicense       OFL
#
# The following directives are lists of space-separated shell globs
#   – matching files associated with the font family,
#   – as they exist in the build root,
#   — at the end of the %build stage:
# – legal files (licensing…)
%global fontlicenses      OFL.txt
# – exclusions from the “fontlicenses” list
%global fontlicensesex    
# – documentation files
%global fontdocs          
# – exclusions from the “fontdocs” list
%global fontdocsex        %{fontlicenses}

%global fontfamily        
%global fontsummary       
# A container for additional subpackage declarations.
%global fontpkgheader     %{expand:
Obsoletes: 
}
#
# More shell glob lists:
# – font family files
%global fonts             
# – exclusions from the “fonts” list)
%global fontsex           
# – fontconfig files
%global fontconfs         %{SOURCE10}
# – exclusions from the “fontconfs” list
%global fontconfsex       
# – appstream files, if any (generated automatically otherwise)
%global fontappstreams    
# – exclusions from the “fontappstreams” list
%global fontappstreamsex  
#
%global fontdescription   %{expand:
}

Source0:  
Source10: [number]-%{fontpkgname}.conf

%fontpkg

# Font creators love to bundle bulky documentation files, that show off their
# font (typically, as pdf specimens). Split those files in a dedicated optional
# doc package.
%package   doc
Summary:   %{name} optional documentation files
BuildArch: noarch
%description doc
This package provides optional documentation files shipped with %{name}.

%prep
%setup
# Convert upstream files to UTF-8 and Unix end of lines if necessary
# Optional arguments:
# -e [encoding] source OS encoding (auto-detected otherwise)
# -n            do not recode files, only adjust folding and end of lines
%linuxtext *.txt

%build
%fontbuild

%install
%fontinstall

%check
%fontcheck

%fontfiles

%files doc
%license OFL.txt
%doc *.pdf

%changelog

Packaging multiple font families

Those patterns can be extended the following way, when packaging multiple font families, from a project named after the main packaged family.

Macros and variables
Shared font declarations

%{foundry}, %{fontlicense}, %{fontlicensex}, %{fontdocs} and %{fontdocsex} are applied to all font families,

  • unless overriden by the same variable, suffixed with a specific block number

  • for example %{fontdocs2}

A variable, can be used to share a description block:

Using a common description variable
%global common_description %{expand:
IBM wanted Plex to be a distinctive, yet timeless workhorse — an alternative to
its previous corporate font family, “Helvetica Neue”, for this new era. The
Grotesque style was the perfect fit. Not only do Grotesque font families
balance human and rational elements, the Grotesque style also came about during
the Industrial Age, when IBM was born.}

[…]

%global fontfamily1       Plex Sans
%global fontsummary1      IBM Plex Sans, the new grotesque IBM corporate font family
%global fontpkgheader1 %{expand:
Suggests: font(ibmplexsansmono)
}
%global fonts1            IBM-Plex-{Sans,Sans-*,Arabic}/fonts/complete/otf/*otf
%global fontsex1          IBM-Plex-Sans-Thai-Looped/fonts/complete/otf/*otf
%global fontconfs1        %{SOURCE11} 65-%{fontpkgname1}.conf
%global fontdescription1  %{expand:
%{common_description}
This package provides the grotesque sans-serif variable-width IBM Plex Sans,
the main font family of the Plex set.}

%global fontfamily2       Plex Mono
%global fontsummary2      IBM Plex Mono, the monospace grotesque coding font family of the Plex set
%global fonts2            IBM-Plex-Mono/fonts/complete/otf/*otf
%global fontconfs2        %{SOURCE12}
%global fontdescription2  %{expand:
%{common_description}
This package provides the grotesque sans-serif fixed-width IBM Plex Mono, a
little something for developers, because monospace does not need to be monotone.}
Family-specific font declarations

  • each font family is declared in a separate family-specific block,

  • each block is identified by a number, suffixed to the corresponding block variables,

    • for example %{fontfamily1}

  • the zero-suffix block is used to generate SRPM metadata,

  • all the zero-suffix variables are aliased to no-suffix variables of the same name, and vice versa.

Packaging macros

  • %fontpkg, %fontbuild, %fontinstall, %fontcheck and %fontfiles accept the following arguments:

    • -a process everything

    • -z [number] process the [number] declaration block

  • if no flag is specified they will only process the zero/no-suffix block

    • consequently, packaging multiple font families will usually require the -a option

%{\fontmetapkg}

generate font package headers. Optional arguments (usually unnecessary):

  • -n [name] use [name] as metapackage name

  • -s [variable] use the content of [text] as metapackage summary

  • -d [variable] use the content of [variable] as metapackage description

  • -z [numbers] restrict metapackaging to `[numbers]`è space-separated list of font package suffixes
Complex metapackaging example
%fontmetapkg -z 1,2,3

%global lgcmetasummary All the font packages, generated from %{name}, Latin-Greek-Cyrillic subset
%global lgcmetadescription %{expand:
This metapackage installs all the font packages, generated from the %{name}
source package, in a version restricted to coverage of Latin, Greek and
Cyrillic.
}

%fontmetapkg -n dejavu-lgc-fonts-all -s lgcmetasummary -d lgcmetadescription -z 4,5,6
Annotated spec template

Putting it all together:

spectemplate-fonts-2-multi.spec
# Packaging template: multi-family fonts packaging.
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
#
# This template documents spec declarations, used when packaging multiple font
# families, from a single dedicated source archive. The source rpm is named
# after the first (main) font family). Look up “fonts-3-sub” when the source
# rpm needs to be named some other way.
#
# It is part of the following set of packaging templates:
# “fonts-0-simple”: basic single-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-1-full”:   less common patterns for single-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-2-multi”:  multi-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-3-sub”:    packaging fonts, released as part of something else
#
Version: 
Release: 
URL:     

# The following declarations will be aliased to [variable]0 and reused for all
# generated *-fonts packages unless overriden by a specific [variable][number]
# declaration.
%global foundry           
%global fontlicense       
%global fontlicenses      
%global fontlicensesex    
%global fontdocs          
%global fontdocsex        %{fontlicenses}

# A text block that can be reused as part of the description of each generated
# subpackage.
%global common_description %{expand:
}

# Declaration for the subpackage containing the first font family. Also used as
# source rpm info. All the [variable]0 declarations are equivalent and aliased
# to [variable].

%global fontfamily0       
%global fontsummary0      
%global fontpkgheader0    %{expand:
}
%global fonts0            
%global fontsex0          
%global fontconfs0        %{SOURCE10}
%global fontconfsex0      
%global fontappstreams0   
%global fontappstreamsex0 
%global fontdescription0  %{expand:
%{common_description}
Additional text…}

# Declaration for the subpackage containing the second font family.
%global fontfamily1       
%global fontsummary1      
%global fontpkgheader1    %{expand:
}
%global fonts1            
%global fontsex1          
%global fontconfs1        %{SOURCE11}
%global fontconfsex1      
%global fontappstreams1   
%global fontappstreamsex1 
%global fontdescription1  %{expand:
%{common_description}
Other Additional text…}
#
# Continue as necessary…

Source0:  
Source10: [number]-%{fontpkgname0}.conf
Source11: [number]-%{fontpkgname1}.conf

# “fontpkg” will generate the font subpackage headers corresponding to the
# elements declared above.
# “fontpkg” accepts the following selection arguments:
# – “-a”          process everything
# – “-z [number]” process a specific declaration block
# If no flag is specified it will only process the zero/nosuffix block.
%fontpkg -a

# “fontmetapkg” will generate a font meta(sub)package header for all the font
# subpackages generated in this spec. Optional arguments:
# – “-n [name]”      use [name] as metapackage name
# – “-s [variable]”  use the content of [variable] as metapackage summary
# – “-d [variable]”  use the content of [variable] as metapackage description
# – “-z [numbers]”   restrict metapackaging to [numbers] comma-separated list
#                    of font package suffixes
%fontmetapkg

%package   doc
Summary:   %{name} optional documentation files
BuildArch: noarch
%description doc
This package provides optional documentation files shipped with %{name}.

%prep
%setup
%linuxtext *.txt

%build
# “fontbuild” accepts the usual selection arguments:
# – “-a”          process everything
# – “-z [number]” process a specific declaration block
# If no flag is specified it will only process the zero/nosuffix block.
%fontbuild -a

%install
# “fontinstall” accepts the usual selection arguments:
# – “-a”          process everything
# – “-z [number]” process a specific declaration block
# If no flag is specified it will only process the zero/nosuffix block.
%fontinstall -a

%check
# “fontcheck” accepts the usual selection arguments:
# – “-a”          process everything
# – “-z [number]” process a specific declaration block
# If no flag is specified it will only process the zero/nosuffix block.
%fontcheck -a

# “fontfiles” accepts the usual selection arguments:
# – “-a”          process everything
# – “-z [number]” process a specific declaration block
# If no flag is specified it will only process the zero/nosuffix block
%fontfiles -a

%files doc
%license 
%doc 

%changelog

Packaging font families, released as part of something else

The last pattern concerns the packaging one or several font families from a source rpm which is not named after the first packaged font family:

  • either because the project name differs from the main font family name,

  • or when the source archive and rpm are used to package more than fonts.

It is almost identical to the previous one.

Macros and variables
Family-specific font declarations

Do not declare a zero/no-suffix family-specific block, as it will attempt to generate SRPM metadata, and collide with existing SRPM declarations.

Annotated spec template

Putting it all together:

spectemplate-fonts-3-sub.spec
# Packaging template: packaging fonts, released as part of something else
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
#
# This template documents spec declarations, used when packaging one or several
# font families from a source rpm which is not named after the first packaged
# font family:
# – either because the project name differs from the main font family name
# – or when the source archive and rpm are used to package more than fonts.
#
# It is part of the following set of packaging templates:
# “fonts-0-simple”: basic single-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-1-full”:   less common patterns for single-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-2-multi”:  multi-family fonts packaging
# “fonts-3-sub”:    packaging fonts, released as part of something else
#
# The packaging style is identical to the one documented in “fonts-2-multi”,
# EXCEPT it should not use the zero/nosuffix declaration block, as this block
# will attempt to generate source rpm declarations by default.
#
# Usually appropriate for fonts-only packages
BuildArch: noarch

Version: 
Release: 
License: 
URL:     

%global foundry           
# If different from the main License
%global fontlicense       
%global fontlicenses      
%global fontlicensesex    
%global fontdocs          
%global fontdocsex        %{fontlicenses}

%global common_description %{expand:
}

%global fontfamily1       
%global fontsummary1      
%global fontpkgheader1    %{expand:
}
%global fonts1            
%global fontsex1          
%global fontconfs1        %{SOURCE11}
%global fontconfsex1      
%global fontappstreams1   
%global fontappstreamsex1 
%global fontdescription1  %{expand:
%{common_description}
Additional text…}

%global fontfamily2       
%global fontsummary2      
%global fontpkgheader2    %{expand:
}
%global fonts2            
%global fontsex2          
%global fontconfs2        %{SOURCE12}
%global fontconfsex2      
%global fontappstreams2   
%global fontappstreamsex2 
%global fontdescription2  %{expand:
%{common_description}
Other Additional text…}
#
# Continue as necessary…

Source0:  
Source11: [number]-%{fontpkgname1}.conf
Source12: [number]-%{fontpkgname2}.conf

Name:     
Summary:  
%description
%wordwrap -v common_description

%fontpkg -a

%fontmetapkg

%package   doc
Summary:   %{name} optional documentation files
BuildArch: noarch
%description doc
This package provides optional documentation files shipped with %{name}.

%prep
%setup
%linuxtext *.txt

%build
%fontbuild -a

%install
%fontinstall -a

%check
%fontcheck -a

%fontfiles -a

%files doc
%license 
%doc 

%changelog

Rationale

Legal

Fonts are subject to specific copyright, trademark and patent laws. Reading our fonts legal page is recommended.

Packaging unit: an ideal font family

Font upstreams will often deviate from the OpenType model in their naming:

  • because mistakes happen,

  • because font formats are complex, with a long history, and a huge amount of legacy compability bagage,

  • because upstreams may focus on the artistic side of font creation, to the detriment of its technical side,

  • because upstreams may attempt to workaround problems in the legacy proprietary applications available on their platform of choice,

  • because upstreams may be dormant, and miss changes in the OpenType specification, or use font creation tools that have still not implemented those changes.

Those deviations occur in upstream file names and upstream font file metadata. Upstream choices in those elements can not be relied upon to define useful and consistent font family boundaries.

Shared font files, are no place to workaround application-specific problems. Fedora must apply the OpenType standard strictly, to enable the leveraging by Free Desktop applications, of the application capabilities this standard was designed to unlock. One can always find bits of code not updated to take into account decades-old changes in font standards. Waiting on this code to be fixed is being last, not First.

Font file formats

OpenType highlights

Variable fonts

Application support for variable fonts is sparse right now. They can not replace older OpenType formats yet.

TT versus CFF

  • OpenType TT boasts hinting capabilities, but hinting is labor-intensive and does not scale to large-encoding fonts. In practice modern TT fonts are hinted using automated processes similar to the auto-hinter present in freetype.

  • OpenType CFF lacks hinting but uses the excellent rasterizer Adobe contributed to freetype, achieving similar results.

  • Low-resolution rendering is increasingly irrelevant with the replacement of 96dpi screens by 4K+ HiDPI hardware.

Therefore, don’t use hinting as a format selection criterium, unless you’re sure a human actually proofed the result on a modern renderer, at the screen pixel densities exercised by Fedora users.

Choose the OpenType format best supported upstream, typically the one produced by upstream’s preferred font creation toolchain. For historical reasons the math behind OpenType TT and OpenType CFF differs, converting from one to the other may introduce corner cases problems.

Collections

While collection formats save some storage space, they introduce a high level of complexity packaging and application-side, make it impossible to install font families separately, and create a user-unfriendly environment.

Avoid packaging *.ttc and *.otc files unless left no choice by upstream.

Legacy deprecated formats

Legacy formats are too limited to handle Unicode-level coverage, fail to declare their encoding, do not permit the kind of style selection expected in modern fonts, do not provide human-friendly naming layers, etc. They’re full of quirks and a source of (security) bugs in applications.

In 2006, at the first Text Layout summit, all the major Free Desktop players agreed to converge on a unified text layout engine, built around the HarfBuzz project and the OpenType format. As a result, modern Free Desktop applications and libraries no longer support other formats.

Use tools like fontforge or fonttosfnt (provided by xorg-x11-font-utils) to convert legacy fonts to an OpenType format. Get it done upstream or script it within the %build section of your spec file.

Like any other format conversion it will need some proofing. That’s why packaging fonts in a single correct format is a requisite for reliable text rendering.

Web fonts

Due to the limitations of the browsers that existed at the time, and due to the fear foundries had of widespread font piracy, initial support for web fonts used a hodgepole of obscure, broken and incomplete font formats (svg, eot, woff, etc).

All major browsers have been fixed long ago to accept OpenType fonts.

Do not package web fonts except in OpenType format. If your upstream still religiously cargo-cults other formats in its CSS files, get those fixed.

The only remotely useful web font format is woff. Its advantages compared to OpenType are marginal at best on a well-configured web server. The sole remaining reason for woff existence is to serve as a light form of DRM for proprietary fonts (Normal applications do not read woff files). That concern does not apply to Fedora. Fedora wants to share. Any so-called web font can be useful in other parts of the distribution. That requires distributing fonts in a common generic format.

Postscript fonts

The OpenType CFF outline format is derived from the one used in Postscript. It was designed by Adobe to permit lossless conversion of legacy Postscript fonts. The SFNT container used by OpenType is vastly more capable than the original PostScript format.

Therefore, there’s no risk, and lots of advantages, in converting Postscript fonts. If their upstream does not want to bother, do not bother packaging the result.

X11 core fonts

Once upon a time every Linux GUI application used the so-called Core fonts server-side X11 backend [1]. It was riddled with problems. The FLOSS developers finally gave up on it, declared it legacy and broken by design, and moved to client-side font handling (fontconfig). Nowadays almost no modern Linux GUI application uses the Core fonts backend. Few (if any) people are willing to fix its remaining bugs.

Therefore, unless your font has previously been registered in Core fonts, and the problems triggered by this font hopefully fixed, you SHOULD NOT declare it there. This is especially true of fonts in modern OpenType formats.

The users of this legacy backend won’t thank you for destabilizing it with new fonts. They value stability. Otherwise they’d have moved to fontconfig like everyone else a long time ago.

Fontconfig

Free Desktop systems rely on multiple upstreams to provide their fonts. They are heavily dependent on fontconfig to present a consistent user-friendly font pool in applications. High quality fontconfig rules are indispensable to permit easy substitution of font families, and to mask upstream messiness.

Applying strict WWS rules helps applications identify all the parts of a font family, and makes selectors like bolder possible.

Removing format attributes from family prevents breakage, when the technical format shipped by the distribution changes after an update. Because font technology continues to improve, format changes are bound to happen sooner or later. Applications can still request font format information via the fontconfig API if they need to.

Removing coverage attributes from family enables merging all matching files in a single synthetic family. That is more user friendly, and prevents breakage when upstream decides to split the font family over different lines. Because creating a wide-coverage font family is a hard, long-term endeavour — Unicode is not finalized yet — such changes are common.

The other decisions are just choosing good defaults for the font family. While fontconfig can take a guess at those, its guess will never be as accurate as packager decisions. Packagers can ask upstream for clarifications. Fontconfig can not.

Remember that a lot of upstream naming decisions are taken to accomodate systems, that are missing an automatic font substition / font merging layer. The format and coverage information in family names is intended to help manual selection of font files. Our guidelines ask packagers to convert those to information fontconfig understands. Free Desktop systems can do a lot more, as long as the information provided to fontconfig is correct.

Source (SRPM) package break-up

As noted in the Packaging Guidelines, Fedora packages should make every effort to avoid having multiple, separate, upstream projects bundled together in a single package. This applies equally to font packages.

Multi-source packages are difficult to maintain and confusing to users.

Installation (RPM) package break-up: font packages

Once all the preceding has been done, a font package should only contain:

  • OpenType font files,

  • in a single OpenType format,

    • baring coverage constrains.

  • with WWS-compliant style values,

  • sharing the same family value,

    • except for optical sizing atttibutes, which are appended to the common family root.

  • fontconfig files,

  • appstream files,

  • legal files,

  • documentation files.

Building

Building from source ensures it will be possible to modify the font when problems are reported and upstream is not responsive. Sometimes that means working with upstream to sanitize its build processes.

Packaging a font family in multiple OpenType formats; application support

Fonts are comparatively bulky. Shipping fonts in multiple formats makes the situation worse on user systems, mirrors and live images. Every font family that ships in multiple formats, consumes space that could be used by another font package, enhancing the user experience.

Because applications will make different choices in presence of multiple formats for the same font family, because different formats use different rasterization engines, because format conversions can introduce artefacts, shipping multiple formats reduces the effectiveness of Fedora QA.

Most applications in Fedora support indifferently all OpenType formats,

Most fonts in Fedora are only available in a single OpenType format,

Rendering text in all the locales supported by Fedora requires using multiple fonts in multiple formats,

Therefore packaging a font family in multiple OpenType formats should only be done as a limited exception.

1. Fonts accessed through the original core X protocol, using tools like mkfontdir, xfs, /etc/X11/fontpath.d/, XLFD strings, etc. See also this paper written shortly before projects massively migrated to client-side fonts.

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