New GNU/Linux Trisquel user (more easily access wide knowledge base for Ubuntu desktop to stop 'spamming this Forum?)

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Earthling
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se unió: 08/06/2020

I'm new to Trisquel and have already asked several simple questions on this forum. Though I've received great help, I wonder if I might almost be 'spamming' due to my ignorance, and I don't want to do that. And no doubt there will be more questions, for which most all users of this forum are FAR beyond.

Universal Access: The reason, now, that I request assistance (in the broader scope) is that 'Universal Access' appears to be missing from Trisquel (and has 'Assistive Technologies' in its place?)

Problem: I came from Windows and never had an issue being able to read everything clearly with the default font size and the same resolution as Trisquel, but with any Linux I've tried, it's really a struggle (they're MUCH smaller), and when I search for help on the matter, the default answers almost universally are related to Ubuntu (no doubt due to its larger relative install base of users.) And all the 'simplest' answers from that direction, point to using Universal Access as the easiest way to increase the OVERALL default font size for everything (and without changing screen resolution.)

Solution?: Should I keep asking questions here, or should I switch to a more Ubuntu-known desktop environment (with Universal Access), so that I 'may' more easily solve issues on my own (though no doubt I'll still end up asking some here in any case.)

Barring all the above...is there no 'easy' way to increase the default font size for the entire Trisquel system? Or is the reason either that I just can't find it, or that it's a 'proprietary' app, so therefore not included on Trisquel?

Appreciatively...

Beformed
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se unió: 01/12/2017

Hello Earthling,

Checking the forum guidelines, I don't see any rule to not ask for help about your Trisquel system in the Trisquel forum. As a recomendation, I would search for your problem in the forum just in case someone has had that issue before and we have an answer for that. As long as you are aware of non-free javascript, you can also search your problem in different ubuntu forums.

You can change your font size under the appearance menu
go to Menu -> System -> Preferences -> Look and feel -> Appearance

Under fonts you should be able to configure what you need.

Connochaetes

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se unió: 12/13/2017

If you use Trisquel Mini, note that you cannot adjust all font size settings from a single tab. Instead, the "Appearance" thing has two or three different places to adjust fonts and font sizes (for different places where text appears), so make sure to thoroughly go through all things and sub-things within the "Appearance" thing. Took me a while to find out.

Avron

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se unió: 08/18/2020

Hello Beformed,

With the versions from Trisquel 9, this menu seems not to control the fonts used to display email headers and contents in Evolution, but it controls the font size for the message list and folder list.

That said, in "email preferences", it is possible to untick the box "Use the same fonts as other apps" (probably not the exact English wording as my system is not in English) and then select fonts directly there.

Do you know whether there is any other kind of system settings that Evolution might be using? Or perhaps Evolution is trying to use something from GNOME 3 that does not exist in MATE?

(By the way, in Trisquel forum, the font used when typing my message using Abrowser seems much smaller than the font used to display a message, not sure whether this is something I could change).

Magic Banana

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se unió: 07/24/2010

Ubuntu uses GNOME by default. https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/GnomeShell/Tour presents GNOME Shell's main features and https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/GnomeShell/CheatSheet more advanced ones, such as keybindings, drag and drop capabilities, and special utilities.

You can install the package named "gnome-session", close your graphical session and, on the login screen, click on the icon next to your user name to choose the GNOME session. You will have GNOME's "Universal Access".

You may also want to install the package named "gnome-tweaks". In the "Fonts" section of that tool, you can set some font sizes and a global scaling factor.

Connochaetes

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se unió: 12/13/2017

Hmm, in Trisquel 7 you didn't need to install anything to globally enlarge all text. Instead:
Menu → "System Settings" → (in the upper, "Personal" part) "Universal Access" → "Seeing" tab → switch on "Large Text"

But IIRC using the "look and feel" / "appearance" settings instead of these "universal access" settings got me better results.

Magic Banana

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se unió: 07/24/2010

By default, Trisquel 7 was using GNOME 3.12 Fallback. By default, Trisquel 8 and 9 use MATE, a fork of GNOME 2.

chaosmonk

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se unió: 07/07/2017

You can change the font size in Control Center -> Appearance.

chaosmonk

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se unió: 07/07/2017

This is an alternate path to the same setting that Beformed mentioned.

Earthling
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se unió: 08/06/2020

I don't know that I understand the several answers I've received regarding increasing the default/universal font size in the MATE desktop.

I had thought (hoped) that such a change would be a one-click change. Not hunting for multiple buried settings or desktop environments?

without realizing it would be making an apparently 'semi-permanent' change of desktop environments (along with all the other intrinsic settings within), I chose to try the solution suggested by @Magic Banana, so installed both 'gnome-session' & 'gnome-tweaks'. Then logged out, and chose Gnome at login, rather than MATE.

And FYI, whether important or not, after applying the two packages and before logging out, I did receive an error message reading "W: Download is performed unsandboxed as root as file '/root/.synaptic/tmp//tmp_sh' couldn't be accessed by user '_apt'. - pkgAcquire::Run (13: Permission denied)."

What I didn't previously realize (apologies), is that it seems that doing this method means I would effectively be making the font increase 'within' the GNOME environment ONLY, but that when going back to MATE, I would be going back to where I started from, and didn't want to be (not able to change to an OVERALL larger font (without changing resolution.)

For now, I've left the two suggested packages installed, but again, what I really want, if at all possible, is to simply increase the font size, wholesale, over the entire environment and its applications. Or maybe at some point I'll experiment/switch to GNOME entirely?

Some other suggestions above, regarding "Appearance" (from inside MATE), seemed to indicate the changing of multiple settings, that 'may' result in the overall/wholesale/system-wide INCREASE in the font size, within MATE. Other similar suggestions to my question, within 'Appearance', seem to me that there are at least 4 different font size settings, of which I just don't know the various meanings. For example, if I increase each of them 5 sizes, does that equate to the solution I seek...for the whole viewable desktop/apps? If so, that IS what I will do.

Apologies for being so verbose, but 'please' take it as my lack of understanding?

Thanks very kindly to all...

chaosmonk

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se unió: 07/07/2017

> I had thought (hoped) that such a change would be a one-click change. Not hunting for multiple buried settings or desktop environments?

It is. Just do what I said.

chaosmonk

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se unió: 07/07/2017

> For example, if I increase each of them 5 sizes, does that equate to the solution I seek...for the whole viewable desktop/apps? If so, that IS what I will do.

Yes, with a few exceptions. For example, websites and HTML emails may override your font settings with CSS.

Earthling
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se unió: 08/06/2020

Under Control Center> Look and Feel> Appearance> Appearance Preferences> Fonts, I find 5(five) font style & size settings; 1. Application font: 2. Document font: 3. Desktop font: 4. Windows title font: 5. Fixed width font. If this is where one changes ALL the fonts, I 'presume' that each of them should be increased the same number/amount, for consistency?

On that same window though, further below, I also find a Details button, which opens yet another window, saying Resolution> Dots per inch (DPI), with an Automatic Detection switch (the default is on), and is set to 96 on my machine. If one turns that switch off, it can be set to a large range of Dots per inch.

So please, am I changing EACH of the 5 font sizes under Appearance Preferences...or am I going another menu deeper, and then changing the Resolution DPI with the switch?

Earthling
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se unió: 08/06/2020

I guess I find it necessary here to draw attention that, on this same laptop, with the same resolution, I don't wear or need glasses (20/20 vision), or find it at all difficult to read text using the default settings on that 'other' OS I'm trying to ditch permanently. Yet, on Trisquel (or other Linux-based OS's), the default font size/appearance seems almost absurdly tiny...so much so that even any integrated Help menus are of seemingly little use.

It just seems so odd that there is such a marked difference, though I know eventually it will get sorted.

chaosmonk

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se unió: 07/07/2017

> the default font size/appearance seems almost absurdly tiny...so much so that even any integrated Help menus are of seemingly little use.

Just how tiny are they? Smaller than in these screenshots?

=> https://trisquel.info/en/screenshots

Is it just fonts, or does everything look tiny compared to the screenshots?

Do you by any chance have a HDPI display? What's your screen resolution?

chaosmonk

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se unió: 07/07/2017

> If this is where one changes ALL the fonts, I 'presume' that each of them should be increased the same number/amount, for consistency?

Just change each font setting to the size that you want it to be. You'll know that they are the size you want when they look the way you want them to.

> So please, am I changing EACH of the 5 font sizes under Appearance Preferences...or am I going another menu deeper, and then changing the Resolution DPI with the switch?

Adjusting the resolution will change the size of *everything*, not just fonts. You said you just wanted to change the font size, right? So just do that.

Earthling
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se unió: 08/06/2020

Okay, I've now side-by-side compared the desktop/environment appearance from the laptop w/ Trisquel 1920x1080p display, along with a Windows 10 laptop with the same resolution (default 96dpi on both.) And FYI, I don't believe it's anything to do with the Trisquel laptop itself, as it previously had Windows 10 on it, and everything appeared fine regarding this issue.

It doesn't seem to be 'merely' the size of the fonts or the screen resolutions...it seems to be at least as much to do with the legibility/readability/richness of the typefaces themselves (apologies when I'm not using the correct terminology.) Whatever it is, it makes a significant difference in overall comfort in usability (at least for me.)

What's even more odd is that, even though I find Windows 10 far more comfortable to read, there are seemingly quite a lot of 'Windows people' who are VERY dissatisfied with 10, compared to 7 or 8.1 (for reasons of blurriness,readability, etc.)

I don't think there's any cause for me to become a thorn about this for all the very generous people here (that absolutely wasn't my intent)...so unfortunately I guess I'll just need to let the issue go, at least for now. I'll investigate further as time allows.

Thanks so KINDLY for all the friendly help!

Mr. P
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se unió: 03/25/2020

Hi Earthling!
I'm not sure to understood well your issues :-), and maybe you too. Anyway all display settings (resolution/front dimm/etc...), are settable using GUI (Graphical User Interface), like in Windoz.
_You use Trisquel, or Trisque Mini? Because T. have a much complete setting options, T.M. only 6/7 styles of setting, (like Connochaetes say).
_Your graphic card work at 100% whit T. (or T.M.)? Some hardwares need proprietary firmware to do it, without don't work or do it just in low resolution, howewer not at max. Only if the card work at 100%, can use screen at max resolution.

Presuming your card work at 100% and than you use Trisquel, have 2 ways to follow for modify text dimensions (not screen resolution).
1 Click main menu in pannel>System>Control Center>Appearence. (like Chaosmonk suggest)
2 Click main menu in pannel>System>Preference>Appearence&Style>Appearence.

Any way you need always find Appear. Now in the Appear. window you can moving in 4 taps, Themes/Background/Caract.Type/Interface, themes or background are what you need. Whit themes can change ALL (colours/dimen./caract.types/botton/ALL!), to first choise the starting layout you much like (HigtContrast/Mint/etc..) and after push Pers. button to change the rest how you want. At the end can save you Pers. Layout.
If you wanna change only text dimensions, push Caract. Types tab and after push the button of text dim. you wanna change (Apps/Docs/Desktop/etc..), an do it in the window now open.

If you need modify screen resolution there is an other GUI to do it, Main menu>System>Pref.>Hardware>Screens, but usually is set at max by defaut.

You can also add to pannel Apps/Pers.Apps from repo (like Redshift/bluetooth button/etc..), modify or create a new pannel, change form or appearence of windows/menu/etc... All what can totally modify desktop layout, to having one more friendly for your usage. Very much better than Windoz!;-)

gaseousness
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se unió: 08/25/2020

Turning off automatic detection, and using fonts-cantarell I think looks good enough to replace those non-free ubuntu fonts? How settings look for a laptop and dumbtv screen, 1080p.

fonts-gui-mate-settings.jpg
Earthling
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se unió: 08/06/2020

@Mr. P / gaseousness,

Thank you both (and any I haven't thanked otherwise) for all your helpful suggestions...very much.

I think I have enough info. to learn from now, and will make more changes when I can, to find an environment/appearance that is more comfortable. Hopefully I can do this 'without' getting too lost, i.e. needing to reset ALL settings to Trisquel default (which could unintentionally undo a lot of desired changes I've made since the original install.)

There's no doubt a better place to say thank you to ALL of the Trisquel developers and users, however I truly do appreciate the tremendous accomplishment everyone has contributed, to encourage the use of Trisquel (and all the other non-proprietary OS' and hardware.) Hopefully, someday, most everyone will realize just how much personal freedom is casually given over to purely authority-driven entities...and it will be recognized *before* it's too late to recover.

Mr. P
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se unió: 03/25/2020

«Hopefully I can do this 'without' getting too lost, i.e. needing to reset ALL settings to Trisquel default....»

«....push Pers. button to change the rest how you want. At the end can save you Pers. Layout.» If you save it, can't happen. You can also save more personal layout's (whit different names), if don't want lost your precedent modify.