Linux daily drivers?

John Butler
John Butler Posts: 368
in Type Design Software
I am beginning my once-in-a-decade attempt to install a Linux desktop—in this case a laptop (ThinkPad X13, 12th gen Core i7 4c8t, 16GB) with Debian and WindowMaker. After I clean out all junk fonts, which were everywhere in my previous Ubuntu Studio install, I'll install Inkscape, Scribus, LibreOffice, Firefox, some raster graphics and audio and video apps, and my venerable collection of proper fonts. 

Fontforge seems easy enough to install, I will also have a go at Runebender and Fontra and DTL LetterModeler. Has anyone here used the Linux versions of FontMaster or FoundryMaster?

Also, is there any decent Linux counterpart to good old Windows Character Map for accessing buried characters and glyphs?

And does anyone here use a Linux platform for type design in general? I've grown to hate macOS and increasingly Windows as well, though I will continue to own and use both.

Comments

  • mitradranirban
    mitradranirban Posts: 147
    I use free version of DTL OT master windows version through wine in Ubuntu - and it works. For Fontforge and Fontra, Linux is as good as windows or Mac, I presume. 
  • LeMo aka PatternMan aka Frank E Blokland
    LeMo aka PatternMan aka Frank E Blokland Posts: 803
    Hi John, if you sent me a direct email via <penguin [at] linuxtype [dot] com>, I will send you a download link for DTL FoundryMaster version 10.4 for Linux, so you can play around with it.

    You may have to install the somewhat older ICU 60 library, and I have included a concise manual for this in the documentation folder. However, a proper overall manual is still missing, and I hope to find time to write one soon. At least most of the drawing tools are explained in the included rudimentary manual, as are the hard-coded shortcuts for adding, changing, and removing contour points. All the other shortcuts can be modified in the preferences, of course.

    The batch font-generation tool we use via shell scripts is not included. I am not sure whether a Linux version was ever generated. I will have to check that.
  • John Butler
    John Butler Posts: 368
    Thank you Frank! That's very gracious of you. I will contact you when I'm further along in my setup, but so far it's going well enough that I expect to switch from booting off an external Thunderbolt drive to simply replacing my internal Windows drive. Just about every function I use in Windows is available one way or another on this installation.
  • Drawcard
    Drawcard Posts: 78
    Hi @John Butler, my current font design workflow is on an Android tablet, which I think counts as Linux :D But I can share some of my experiences.

    You might find most of your current software runs inside Wine, which is a windows emulator for Linux. I run it using mobox & termux on my tablet. I can run Fontlab 8 pretty flawlessly within Wine.

    I still do some specific tasks on my Mac using Glyphs (eg running Kern On to establish a basic kerning set) but I use a file sharing platform to sync my work files back and forth without issues.

    Feel free to drop me a DM if you need a hand with your setup, or want any further details!

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