Questions about the fonts 'DejaVu Sans' and 'Sans' [SOLVED]

[Argolance]

Hello,
(Don't know exactly where to ask this question about the fonts "DejaVu Sans" and "Sans": I do it here!).
It is known that:

DejaVu font is not good for non-Latin languages

This script takes the problem into account and is intended to solve it. 'DejaVu Sans' is replaced with 'Sans' everywhere where it can be...
First question: What/where is this font "Sans", that I didn't find anywhere inside the /usr/share/fonts directory though it is displayed among the available fonts using gfontsel?
Second question: If /root/.mozilla/seamonkey/xxxxxxxx.default/chrome/userChrome.css is modified this way: 'Sans' instead of 'DejaVu Sans'), Seamonkey mail and web browser don't take the changement into account while modification works perfectly with any other font.

Has someone any explanation of this strange thing?
Thanks.

Cordialement.

[MochiMoppel]

First question: What/where is this font "Sans", that I didn't find anywhere inside the /usr/share/fonts directory though it is displayed among the available fonts using gfontsel?

Sounds like a generic font family, though the correct name would be sans-serif. Generic fonts are not installed and normally don't correspond with installed font names. They are used to select "similar" fonts when the designated fonts are not installed on the user's system.

Second question: If /root/.mozilla/seamonkey/xxxxxxxx.default/chrome/userChrome.css is modified this way: 'Sans' instead of 'DejaVu Sans'), Seamonkey mail and web browser don't take the changement into account while modification works perfectly with any other font.

userChrome.css is created by the user and not part of Seamonkey's default installation. Difficult to answer without a concrete example. Try sans-serif, not sans.

[Argolance]

Bonjour MochiMoppel,
Thanks for your reply.
EDIT: Sorry, useless comment deleted.
Today, 'Sans' works with both Seamonkey and Firefox...

[MochiMoppel]

Konbanwa Argolance, good to see the [SOLVED] marker because I'm still not convinced with my answer.
I can see that in file /etc/fonts/fonts.conf sans is mapped to sans-serif (Accept deprecated 'sans' alias, replacing it with 'sans-serif') and that sans-serif is mapped to DejaVu Sans

Code: Select all

		<family>sans-serif</family>
		<prefer>
			<family>DejaVu Sans</family>
			<family>Bitstream Vera Sans</family>
			<family>Verdana</family>
			<family>Nimbus Sans L</family>
			<family>Luxi Sans</family>
			<family>Arial</family>
			<family>Helvetica</family>
			<family>Kochi Gothic</family>
			<family>AR PL KaitiM GB</family>
			<family>AR PL KaitiM Big5</family>
			<family>Baekmuk Dotum</family>
			<family>SimSun</family>
		</prefer>

, so both are in fact the same, but I still don't know why the Fonts list in Abiword and other applications lists "Sans" (along with other generic names like "Serif" and "Monospace").

[Argolance]

Hello,
I never saw this /etc/fonts/fonts.conf file before and it is very interesting indeed! Now I understand more exactly how fonts management is working and why this phantomatic 'Sans' font doesn't exist materially.

I'm still not convinced with my answer

... I am.
So, now, I am wondering what is exactly the utility of replacing 'DejaVu Sans' with 'Sans', as far as it is the same font (naturally, when 'DejaVu Sans' is the first in the list of prefered fonts and at least, present in the /usr/share/fonts directory)?

Here is something strange...

Thanks.

Cordialement.