.xinitrc and .xession not being read?

[Joshua Legbandt]

On Thu, 2003-10-23 at 00:24, Mike A. Harris wrote:
> On Wed, 22 Oct 2003, Joshua Legbandt wrote:
> 
> >> Red Hat Linux by default uses "xfs" for serving fonts, and the X 
> >> server is not used for serving fonts.  The "xset fp" commands 
> >> tell the X server (not xfs) to manipulate it's fontpath and 
> >> add/remove/refresh/etc. the X server font path only.  If your X 
> >> server is not reconfigured to allow this to work properly, by 
> >> enabling the various font modules in the Modules section of the 
> >> X server config file, if you try to add font paths with xset to 
> >> the X server and those FPEs contain fonts that the X server does 
> >> not have a module loaded to handle, then the request will be 
> >> ignored as the X server isn't capable of doing what you've asked 
> >> in its current configuration.
> >
> >I don't think that this is the case, as I am able to run the xset
> >commands after X is started and the fonts work as expected.
> 
> It very much is the case.  The *ONLY* way xset fp will work, is 
> if your X server is configured to load the proper modules for the 
> font types you're trying to add with xset.
> 
> If you're trying to add truetype fonts with xset, you need:
> 
> 	Load "freetype"
> 
> If you're trying to add Type1 fonts with xset:
> 
> 	Load "Type1"
> 
> Ditto for Speedo, and other types.  You need to read the X 
> documentation to figure out what if any modules you need to load.  
> If a module is not loaded for a font type, then the font types 
> supported by that particular module will not be serveable by the 
> X server at all, and xset +fp et al. on font directories that 
> contain that font type will fail.
> 
> This isn't something I threw over my shoulder in a "I think this
> is the way it is" sense, it is the way the X server works.  Of
> course you're certainly free to read the various documentation
> and/or source code if you disagree however.  ;o)
> 
> TTYL

I think I wasn't clear, I meant that I don't think that in my case that
the modules are loaded. The fonts that I am attempting to load from my
.xfonts folders are standard pcf fonts. I was under the assumption that
a module was not required for bitmap fonts, but I noticed that there is
a bitmap module in /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/fonts. Is this what I would
load to handle bitmaps? xterm works (loads the fixed font) without this
module, so I didn't think that it was required, as my fonts work after I
run xset fp+ /path/to/fonts manually. 

I cannot claim to have any deep expertise with X, except that I've never
had a problem with installing it from binary or source (I think I've
just been lucky) and that I was able to get the framebuffer driver to
work on my ATI Rage128 before the XFree86 driver came out (boy did that
make a nice speed difference).

I suppose what I really should do is either drop my fonts into my .fonts
folder, or just put them into a system path and have them loaded by the
font server.

humbly,
josh

-- 
Joshua Legbandt <jtlegbandt at earthlink.net>