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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.

21 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. That's great and all... by beelsebob · · Score: 4, Interesting

    But where can I see it? Where's the damn link?

    1. Re:That's great and all... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Linky here: http://sourcefoundry.org/hack/

      Is there a point to having editors on slashdot anymore?

    2. Re:That's great and all... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Funny

      If you have to ask, turn in your hacker creds and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. :)

  2. 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?

  3. Here's the article by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 4, Informative

    I know I know.. nobody reads the article. But here's the link:

    http://arstechnica.com/informa...

    --
    If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
    1. Re:Here's the article by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's a simple, clean font.
      He took special care to make sure l,I, and 1 all look different, as well as 0, O.
      Looks good at low resolution.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    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:Here's the article by Misagon · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That looks exactly like the font that is already used as default fixed-width font in my five-year-old install of Ubuntu ...

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
    4. Re:Here's the article by flargleblarg · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I would like this font a lot more if the zero had a slash through it instead of that ridiculous ellipse in the center.

    5. Re:Here's the article by pedantic+bore · · Score: 3, Informative

      The underscores are awful. Almost invisible.

      --
      Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
    6. Re:Here's the article by lucm · · Score: 4, Funny

      I like the way it looks good all the way down to 8pt, and is legible even in 7pt. Not that I'll be reading such tiny code, but many quite a few otherwise-excellent fonts I've looked at over the last few years seem to go a bit funny below 12pt.

      I love 7pt fonts, they allow me to pack a lot more regex in my Perl one-liners.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
  4. It's a hacked Deja Vu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's Deja Vu Sans Mono with some questionable changes to glyph shapes, sizes, and spacing. There's a sore lack of comparison with other programming fonts; Ars is making it out as though we've all been stuck on Courier New until this point, but that's ridiculous. I'd like to see a comparison with, e.g., Consolas, Deja Vu Sans Mono, Courier New, and others.

    1. Re:It's a hacked Deja Vu by nmb3000 · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's Deja Vu Sans Mono with some questionable changes to glyph shapes, sizes, and spacing.

      This is exactly what it is. Hack is nothing more than Deja Vu Sans Mono with some crappy amateur edits. For example, the line in the zero, the changes to the i and a -- all are horrible. I also don't like the increased vertical height, since the widescreen monitor plague has made vertical space a premium. I can only assume Hack came from someone grabbing the source for Deja Vu and messing around with it.

      Here are some examples of commonly recommended programming fonts, if you want to compare (open in new tabs for easy comparison):

      Hack
      Deja Vu Sans Mono
      Consolas
      Lucida Console
      Anonymous Pro

      I primarily use Deja Vu and Consolas, depending on what I'm doing. There's no way I'd switch either of them to Hack.

      --
      "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
      /)
  5. Adobe Source Code Pro by redfood · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It looks similar to Adobe Source Code Pro.

    Similar design goals . Also open source on github.

    To my eyes Source Code Pro looks more refined.

  6. is it me? or... by Pharago · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...does it feel like another deja-vú

  7. animated gif which shows the plagiarism by ballyhoo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This animation shows DejaVu Sans mono vs Hack.

    http://i.imgur.com/8SqL6mT.gif

    Hack is the image with the red square

    #awkward #ripoff

  8. elastic tabstops by GodWasAnAlien · · Score: 3, Informative

    If editors would support elastic tabstops, then we would not be limited to fixed width fonts for code.

  9. 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.

  10. Re:Proportional Fonts by rbrander · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're far too tolerant. These "proportionalists" are the enemy of our freedoms and must all be hunted down and lynched. Even vi and emacs combatants must declare a truce and form a united front. Only monospacers are the True Faith.

  11. Slashed O by tepples · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ø is a letter, not a number.

  12. You're thinking of DejaVu Mono by tepples · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's because five years ago, Ubuntu was shipping with DejaVu Mono, and Hack's website admits that it's a modified DejaVu Mono.