[Bug 1547196] Re: Removal of revert_scalable_fonts_metric.patch causes ugliness in Claws-Mail

[Barry Warsaw]

FWIW, and unsurprisingly, the claws-mail mailing list doesn't think
there's a bug in that application.  I've had to change fonts to Droid
Sans 11 for folders and message lists, and Ubuntu Mono 13 for the
message window.  It's not what I want, but it's tolerable.

I have noticed other geometry changes with gnome terminal and Emacs, and
have had to adjust some settings, but so far I haven't had to actually
change the font of either of them.  I understand the rationale for
backing this patch out, but it does seem to have some negative side-
effects for me.  My understanding is that the patch caused problems for
other people though.  I suspect we'll have to wait (perhaps in vain) for
a font expert to dig into the issue.

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Title:
  Removal of revert_scalable_fonts_metric.patch causes ugliness in
  Claws-Mail

Status in freetype package in Ubuntu:
  New
Status in freetype package in Debian:
  New

Bug description:
  This is mostly a tracking bug for this discussion on ubuntu-devel:

  https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-
  devel/2016-February/039224.html

  The following precise-era patch was recently removed from freetype:

  http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-
  branches/ubuntu/wily/freetype/wily/view/head:/debian/patches-
  freetype/revert_scalable_fonts_metric.patch

  which caused a number of visual effects in various applications.  In
  Emacs, the lines get vertically closer so that more lines are visible
  on screen.  This is subtle and doesn't look too bad otherwise.

  However, in Claws-Mail several negative effects were noticed.  The
  lines in the Summary window are more squished together and the
  characters appear squished too.  This is with Sans 10 font.  This is
  less readable.

  In the Message window it's worse.  There I use Ubuntu  Mono 14.  The
  problem isn't the vertical spacing, but the horizontal spacing.  Now
  there is more space between characters and that actually makes the
  window less readable.

  I will contact the upstream Claws mailing list to see if they have any
  thoughts.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
  Package: libfreetype6 2.6.1-0.1ubuntu1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-6.21-generic 4.4.1
  Uname: Linux 4.4.0-6-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_uvm nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.20-0ubuntu3
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Thu Feb 18 14:34:57 2016
  Dependencies:
   gcc-6-base 6-20160217-0ubuntu1
   libc6 2.21-0ubuntu6
   libgcc1 1:6-20160217-0ubuntu1
   libpng12-0 1.2.54-1ubuntu1
   zlib1g 1:1.2.8.dfsg-2ubuntu4
  EcryptfsInUse: Yes
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-01-22 (27 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Alpha amd64 (20160117)
  SourcePackage: freetype
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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