Re: [css-fonts] "system" generic font name

Edward O'Connor composed on 2015-07-14 14:47 (UTC-0700):

> Gérard Talbot composed on 2015-07-14 17:40 (UTC-0400):

>> isn't that already the case? By not defining any font-family in a
>> webpage, the browser has to use the browser default font-family....
>> and the browser default font-family is by default the platform's
>> default font face.

> No. Offhand, I don't think any browser's default font family is the
> default system UI font.

Linux isn't two desktops, it's many, under default theming control of far
greater numbers than Apple and Microsoft. Gérard is a Kubuntu user (KDE desktop).

I checked "current" Chromium (43.0.blabla in Kubuntu 14.04LTS) running KDE
4.13.3 and found its "Standard" font to be DejaVu Sans, same as Kubuntu's
default UI font, and same as Chromium's "Serif" font, and same as Chromium's
"Sans-serif" font. In Firefox 38.1ESR, proportional font was Serif (Droid
Serif, obeying fontconfig), Serif = serif (Droid Serif, obeying fontconfig)
and Sans-serif = sans-serif (Droid Sans, obeying fontconfig, same as UI).

I checked "current" Google Chrome (43.0.blabla in Kubuntu 15.04) running KDE
5.9.0, and found Standard, and Serif and Sans-serif all set to Century
Schoolbook. In Firefox 38.1ESR, proportional font was Serif (Droid Serif,
obeying fontconfig), Serif = serif (Droid Serif, obeying fontconfig) and
Sans-serif = sans-serif (Droid Sans, obeying fontconifig, same as UI).

I checked "current" (43.0.blabla) Chromium on KDE 4.14.9 on openSUSE 13.2,
and found Standard and Serif and Sans-serif all set to Adobe Courier, while
KDE's UI font is set to Sans Serif, with 'fc-match "sans serif"' reporting
Droid Sans (as configured by user). In Firefox 38.1ESR, proportional font was
Serif (Droid Serif, obeying fontconfig), Serif = serif (Droid Serif, obeying
fontconfig) and Sans-serif = sans-serif (Droid Sans, obeying fontconfig).

I checked "current" (43.0.blabla) Google Chrome on KDE 4.14.9 on Fedora 21,
and found Standard and Serif and Sans-serif all set to Century Schoolbook,
while KDE's UI font is set to Sans Serif, with 'fc-match "sans serif"'
reporting Droid Sans (as configured by user). In Firefox 38.1ESR,
proportional font was Serif (Droid Serif, obeying fontconfig), Serif = serif
(Droid Serif, obeying fontconfig) and Sans-serif = sans-serif (Droid Sans,
obeying fontconfig, same as UI).

I checked "current" (43.0.blabla) Chromium on Linux Mint 17.2/Cinnamon DE,
and found Standard and Serif and Sans-serif all set to Abyssinica STL. In
Firefox 38.0, proportional font was Serif (Droid Serif, obeying fontconfig),
Serif = serif (Droid Serif, obeying fontconfig) and Sans-serif = sans-serif
(Droid Sans, obeying fontconifig, same as UI, fc-match sans reporting Droid
Sans).

> The "system" family is the font used on the
> system for buttons and menus and things, not the font used for large
> amounts of text in apps on the system.

It doesn't have to be, but it can be, and for those with special visual
needs, it is likely to be.
-- 
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/

Received on Wednesday, 15 July 2015 07:26:11 UTC