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"Hack" Typeface Is Open Source, Easy On the IDEs

Posted by timothy on from the get-it-easy-on-the-eye-dee-never-mind dept.

Ars Technica writes that "At SourceFoundry.org this week, programmer Chris Simpkins debuted the 2.0 version of Hack, an open-source typeface designed specifically for use in source code." The revamped font is "characterized by a large x-height, wide aperture, and low contrast design in order to be 'highly legible' at common coding text sizes," and the font specimen shows how legible it is right down to downright tiny sizes, though Simpkins says the sweet spot is between 8 and 12 pixels. Hack's roots are in the libre, open source typeface community, and the project expands upon the contributions of the Bitstream Vera & DejaVu projects. ... Simpkins has been working on the project throughout 2015, and he tweeted that this latest version includes "new open type features, changes in weights, significant changes in spacing, Powerline glyphs, and more." The typeface now comes with four font styles: Regular, Bold, Oblique, and Bold Oblique.

5 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Fantastic, an article without links...

    I know we don't read articles around here, but are we ready to give up even the pretense?

  2. Re:Here's the article by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The site renders the font in the browser, which often looks different to the IDE. Would be nice to have samples from different operating systems.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  3. Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's a monospace font... How can you shout about kerning?

  4. Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid by flargleblarg · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Keming problem?? It's a monospace font, dude. Keming is a non-issue.

    Leading, on the other hand, is a problem for me with this font. Too much leading (inter-line spacing). I want it a lot tighter vertically.

  5. So is a 1911 shotgun by laurencetux · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The point of this is being effective not pretty