Regular fonts for git-gui and gitk have disappeared

Question

I'm on Ubuntu 16.04. Recently, the fonts in my git-gui and gitk have suddenly changed. I have tried the other fonts proposed but none of them correspond to the previous one that I was used to.

This is what it looked before the bug (taken from the web) :

This is what it looks like now :

The current fonts for git gui are :

Main : gothic 11pt
diff/console : gothic 11pt

The current fonts for gitk are :

Main : courrier 10 pitch
diff : monospace
user interface : gothic

The fonts I can choose from are :

bitstream charter, clean, clearlyu alternate glyphs, clearlyu arabic, clearlyu arabic extra, clearlyu devanagari, clearlyu devangari extra, clearlyu pua, courrier 10 pitch, fangsong ti, fixed, gothic, mincho, newspaper, nil, open look cursor, open look glyph, song ti

Can someone check what is the normal default font for git-gui and gitk on Ubuntu 16.04, and maybe explain why they have changed in my case ? Maybe I incidentally removed a package...

I tried to reinstall gitk and git gui, but I still get that font... The difference is that at the beginning, the default fonts in gitk are Helvetica, Courier and Helvetica, and when I click on the button to choose the font, they don't appear in the list. Could that be a Tcl/Tk problem ?

A very similar issue was described when`Tcl/Tk` is upgraded but unfortunately this wasn't solved till now: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/127709/how-to-disable-anti-aliasing-in-git-gui-and-gitk/127710 — SergeyLebedev, Mar 10 '18 at 21:01
Hi Sergey ! Thank you for directing me to this ! Can you make an answer with the same link, so that I can at least give you the bounty instead of it just being lost ? — matthieu, Mar 12 '18 at 17:09
Hi, Matthieu, so you've solved the problem? Nice to know that. I moved comment content to the answer — SergeyLebedev, Mar 13 '18 at 06:09
I haven't tried the solution in your link, but it's already a solution, even if it seems hard to do, so it's better than nothing :) When you say "this wasn't solved till now", you mean "this hasn't been solved yet" right ? — matthieu, Mar 13 '18 at 10:03

matthieu · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-23T22:29:39.050

UPDATE

I finally figured out where this is coming from, and it's because of the Anaconda environment.

git-gui and gitk use Tcl/Tk and tkinter as a GUI library, and as mentionned in this answer:

tkinter works linking to a Tk/Tcl interpreter that, loosely speaking, is contained in a couple of DLL, in particular the graphical library is libtk6.0.so.

Most of the extra fonts not seen by tkinter are managed by the Freetype library and Anaconda's libtk6.0.so is not built against Freetype...

I have made the test, and I can conclude that it is very well coming from this :

$ conda deactivate
$ gitk                 # fonts are okay
$ conda activate base
$ (base) gitk          # fonts are weird
$ (base) conda deactivate
$ gitk                 # fonts are okay again

One workaround is the one mentionned here:

I resolved this issue by removing wish files in ANACONDA_PATH/bin and related virtual environments

Except that I renamed the files instead of removing them, e.g. wish -> wish-i-renamed-it.

Sources :

Make Anaconda's tkinter aware of system fonts or install new fonts for Anaconda

https://github.com/ContinuumIO/anaconda-issues/issues/6833

This old answer doesn't apply anymore

I just restarted my computer this morning, and the fonts are back ! They are all here ! I really don't know why though...

Here is my update log :

$ less /var/log/apt/history.log

Start-Date: 2018-06-05  09:36:17
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.127'
Upgrade: liblouis9:amd64 (2.6.4-2ubuntu0.1, 2.6.4-2ubuntu0.2), snapd:amd64 (2.32.3.2, 2.32.9), python3-louis:amd64 (2.6.4-2ubuntu0.1, 2.6.4-2ubuntu0.2), libexempi3:amd64 (2.2.2-2, 2.2.2-2ubuntu0.1), liblouis-data:amd64 (2.6.4-2ubuntu0.1, 2.6.4-2ubuntu0.2)
End-Date: 2018-06-05  09:36:36

Start-Date: 2018-06-06  08:31:53
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.100'
Upgrade: libelf1:amd64 (0.165-3ubuntu1, 0.165-3ubuntu1.1), libelf1:i386 (0.165-3ubuntu1, 0.165-3ubuntu1.1)
End-Date: 2018-06-06  08:31:57

Start-Date: 2018-06-06  08:32:51
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.100'
Upgrade: git-gui:amd64 (1:2.7.4-0ubuntu1.3, 1:2.7.4-0ubuntu1.4), git-man:amd64 (1:2.7.4-0ubuntu1.3, 1:2.7.4-0ubuntu1.4), git:amd64 (1:2.7.4-0ubuntu1.3, 1:2.7.4-0ubuntu1.4), gitk:amd64 (1:2.7.4-0ubuntu1.3, 1:2.7.4-0ubuntu1.4)
End-Date: 2018-06-06  08:33:03

Start-Date: 2018-06-07  10:39:47
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.124'
Upgrade: liblouis9:amd64 (2.6.4-2ubuntu0.2, 2.6.4-2ubuntu0.3), google-chrome-stable:amd64 (67.0.3396.62-1, 67.0.3396.79-1), python3-louis:amd64 (2.6.4-2ubuntu0.2, 2.6.4-2ubuntu0.3), liblouis-data:amd64 (2.6.4-2ubuntu0.2, 2.6.4-2ubuntu0.3)
End-Date: 2018-06-07  10:40:04

Start-Date: 2018-06-13  08:46:19
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.107'
Install: linux-headers-4.4.0-128:amd64 (4.4.0-128.154, automatic), linux-headers-4.4.0-128-generic:amd64 (4.4.0-128.154, automatic), linux-image-4.4.0-128-generic:amd64 (4.4.0-128.154, automatic), linux-signed-image-4.4.0-128-generic:amd64 (4.4.0-128.154, automatic), linux-image-extra-4.4.0-128-generic:amd64 (4.4.0-128.154, automatic)
Upgrade: libimage-magick-perl:amd64 (8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.9, 8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.11), linux-headers-generic:amd64 (4.4.0.127.133, 4.4.0.128.134), linux-libc-dev:amd64 (4.4.0-127.153, 4.4.0-128.154), libldap-2.4-2:amd64 (2.4.42+dfsg-2ubuntu3.2, 2.4.42+dfsg-2ubuntu3.3), libldap-2.4-2:i386 (2.4.42+dfsg-2ubuntu3.2, 2.4.42+dfsg-2ubuntu3.3), libimage-magick-q16-perl:amd64 (8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.9, 8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.11), imagemagick:amd64 (8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.9, 8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.11), adobe-flash-properties-gtk:amd64 (1:20180508.1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1, 1:20180607.1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1), linux-image-generic:amd64 (4.4.0.127.133, 4.4.0.128.134), libmagickwand-6.q16-2:amd64 (8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.9, 8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.11), linux-signed-image-generic:amd64 (4.4.0.127.133, 4.4.0.128.134), slack-desktop:amd64 (3.2.0-beta25a7a50e, 3.2.1), google-chrome-stable:amd64 (67.0.3396.79-1, 67.0.3396.87-1), linux-signed-generic:amd64 (4.4.0.127.133, 4.4.0.128.134), adobe-flashplugin:amd64 (1:20180508.1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1, 1:20180607.1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1), imagemagick-6.q16:amd64 (8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.9, 8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.11), libmagickcore-6.q16-2-extra:amd64 (8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.9, 8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.11), firefox-locale-en:amd64 (60.0.1+build2-0ubuntu0.16.04.1, 60.0.2+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1), firefox-locale-fr:amd64 (60.0.1+build2-0ubuntu0.16.04.1, 60.0.2+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1), gpgv:amd64 (1.4.20-1ubuntu3.1, 1.4.20-1ubuntu3.2), libmagickcore-6.q16-2:amd64 (8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.9, 8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.11), firefox:amd64 (60.0.1+build2-0ubuntu0.16.04.1, 60.0.2+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1), imagemagick-common:amd64 (8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.9, 8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.11), libmagick++-6.q16-5v5:amd64 (8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.9, 8:6.8.9.9-7ubuntu5.11), gnupg:amd64 (1.4.20-1ubuntu3.1, 1.4.20-1ubuntu3.2), linux-generic:amd64 (4.4.0.127.133, 4.4.0.128.134), spotify-client:amd64 (1:1.0.77.338.g758ebd78-41, 1:1.0.80.480.g51b03ac3-13)
End-Date: 2018-06-13  08:49:26

Start-Date: 2018-06-14  15:36:26
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.128'
Upgrade: perl-base:amd64 (5.22.1-9ubuntu0.3, 5.22.1-9ubuntu0.5), perl-modules-5.22:amd64 (5.22.1-9ubuntu0.3, 5.22.1-9ubuntu0.5), console-setup-linux:amd64 (1.108ubuntu15.3, 1.108ubuntu15.4), console-setup:amd64 (1.108ubuntu15.3, 1.108ubuntu15.4), libperl5.22:amd64 (5.22.1-9ubuntu0.3, 5.22.1-9ubuntu0.5), keyboard-configuration:amd64 (1.108ubuntu15.3, 1.108ubuntu15.4), perl:amd64 (5.22.1-9ubuntu0.3, 5.22.1-9ubuntu0.5)
End-Date: 2018-06-14  15:37:04

Start-Date: 2018-06-15  10:36:50
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.152'
Upgrade: gnupg-agent:amd64 (2.1.11-6ubuntu2, 2.1.11-6ubuntu2.1), ruby2.3:amd64 (2.3.1-2~16.04.9, 2.3.1-2~16.04.10), libmagic1:amd64 (1:5.25-2ubuntu1, 1:5.25-2ubuntu1.1), ruby2.3-dev:amd64 (2.3.1-2~16.04.9, 2.3.1-2~16.04.10), dirmngr:amd64 (2.1.11-6ubuntu2, 2.1.11-6ubuntu2.1), libruby2.3:amd64 (2.3.1-2~16.04.9, 2.3.1-2~16.04.10), gnupg2:amd64 (2.1.11-6ubuntu2, 2.1.11-6ubuntu2.1), file:amd64 (1:5.25-2ubuntu1, 1:5.25-2ubuntu1.1)
End-Date: 2018-06-15  10:37:08

Start-Date: 2018-06-19  09:04:17
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.168'
Upgrade: libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37:amd64 (2.20.2-0ubuntu0.16.04.1, 2.20.3-0ubuntu0.16.04.1), gir1.2-webkit2-4.0:amd64 (2.20.2-0ubuntu0.16.04.1, 2.20.3-0ubuntu0.16.04.1), desktop-file-utils:amd64 (0.22-1ubuntu5.1, 0.22-1ubuntu5.2), libjavascriptcoregtk-4.0-18:amd64 (2.20.2-0ubuntu0.16.04.1, 2.20.3-0ubuntu0.16.04.1), wireless-regdb:amd64 (2015.07.20-1ubuntu1, 2018.05.09-0ubuntu1~16.04.1), libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37-gtk2:amd64 (2.20.2-0ubuntu0.16.04.1, 2.20.3-0ubuntu0.16.04.1), gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.0:amd64 (2.20.2-0ubuntu0.16.04.1, 2.20.3-0ubuntu0.16.04.1)
End-Date: 2018-06-19  09:04:32

Start-Date: 2018-06-20  10:39:10
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.182'
Upgrade: libgcrypt20:amd64 (1.6.5-2ubuntu0.4, 1.6.5-2ubuntu0.5), libgcrypt20:i386 (1.6.5-2ubuntu0.4, 1.6.5-2ubuntu0.5)
End-Date: 2018-06-20  10:39:15

Start-Date: 2018-06-21  16:30:24
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.214'
Upgrade: amd64-microcode:amd64 (2.20160316.1, 3.20180524.1~ubuntu0.16.04.1)
End-Date: 2018-06-21  16:30:48

And this is my reboot log :

$ last -x | grep reboot

reboot   system boot  4.4.0-128-generi Tue Jun 26 09:08   still running
reboot   system boot  4.4.0-128-generi Fri Jun 15 10:38 - 18:33 (10+07:55)
reboot   system boot  4.4.0-127-generi Tue Jun 12 09:26 - 18:33 (13+09:06)
reboot   system boot  4.4.0-127-generi Tue Jun 12 09:21 - 09:25  (00:03)
reboot   system boot  4.4.0-127-generi Tue Jun  5 16:43 - 09:20 (6+16:37)
reboot   system boot  4.4.0-127-generi Mon Jun  4 12:54 - 09:20 (7+20:26)

The only way I could see why is the fact that I upgraded git-gui and gitk on June 6th. But why did only work when rebooting on the 26th ? There is no Tcl/Tk upgrade, but there are gtk upgrades, so I don't know if that has something to do with it... Maybe someone can figure it out ?

Slightly off-topic (since the OP used Ubuntu): If you have the same problem on Gentoo, the root cause is the same - lacking truetype support in tk (libtk8.6.so isn't linked to the FreeType library). The solution is straight forward - enable the `truetype` USE flag for the `dev-lang/tk` package. — hansfn, Apr 03 '19 at 13:16

Regular fonts for git-gui and gitk have disappeared

1 Answers1