FSTOBDF(1)

📦
version 7.7+3build1 · 2 versions
, in debian trixie, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 FSTOBDF(1) — the fstobdf glow-up 💖

okay bestie, so this is the manual page for fstobdf, and it lives in the General Commands Manual section, and honestly? it's giving "tiny tool, huge main character energy." let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

fstobdf — generate BDF font from X font server

like literally that's the whole job. it takes a font off a font server and hands you back a BDF file. iconic behaviour, no notes 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

fstobdf [ -server servername ] -fn fontname

fstobdf -version

two moods. that's it. that's the whole vibe check 🌸

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so here's the tea ☕ — the fstobdf program reads a font from a font server and prints a BDF file on the standard output that may be used to recreate the font. like, it just emits the whole thing, straight to stdout, ready to be redirected wherever your little heart desires.

and why would you even want that? bestie, three reasons, all valid:

  • testing servers 🔥
  • debugging font metrics 🔍
  • reproducing lost BDF files 😭 (we've all been there)

it's the "oops I lost the source file" emergency kit and we're obsessed.

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -server servername — this option specifies the server from which the font should be read. servername must be specified in one of the formats defined in the Font Server Names section of X(7). and if you don't specify it? no stress, the server name in the FONTSERVER environment variable gets used instead 💜
  • -fn fontname — this option specifies the font for which a BDF file should be generated. this is the one you literally cannot skip. it's the whole point, periodt 👑
  • -version — this option prints the program version and then exits without generating a BDF file. it just peeks its head in, says hi, dips. no font, no drama, just version info ✨

✨ ENVIRONMENT ✨

  • FONTSERVER — the default server to use. the server name must be specified in one of the formats defined in the Font Server Names section of X(7). so if you're tired of typing -server every single time, this is your girl 🌈

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

go be nosy, bestie, these are all friends of the family:

✨ AUTHOR ✨

the legends who made this happen, shoutout fr fr 🫶:

  • Olaf Brandt, Network Computing Devices
  • Dave Lemke, Network Computing Devices
  • Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this was X Version 11, fstobdf 1.0.7 — mwah, go generate some fonts, you absolute icon 👑✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from