Fonts - Revision history

ScatteredCognition: Move the Flatpak font fix stuff into a new page as it is also applicable for things outside of Flatpaks and the same fix is applicable to things outside of fonts

2026-08-04T10:29:37Z

Move the Flatpak font fix stuff into a new page as it is also applicable for things outside of Flatpaks and the same fix is applicable to things outside of fonts

@@ Line 296: / Line 296: @@
 <translate>
-=== Flatpak, Distrobox, Appimage and other non-Nix applications can't find system fonts/icons/themes ===
+=== Flatpak applications can't find system fonts ===
-Flatpak, Distrobox, Appimage and alot of other non-Nix applications sometimes have hardcoded FHS path assumptions for locating fonts, icons and themes. These applications usually expect fonts, icons and themes to be available under <code>/usr/share/fonts</code>, <code>/usr/share/icons</code> and <code>/usr/share/themes</code>, respectively.
+See: [[Fixes for non-Nix applications#Flatpak, Distrobox, Appimage and other non-Nix applications can't find system fonts/icons/themes]]
 ==== Alternative fixes for Flatpak apps ====

ScatteredCognition: Instead of being flatpak-specific, also mention distrobox and appimage for the bindmounting fix

2026-08-04T10:16:55Z

Instead of being flatpak-specific, also mention distrobox and appimage for the bindmounting fix

Show changes

ScatteredCognition: concatenate the mountOptions into a single variable with explanation for "resolve-symlinks"

2026-08-04T08:51:56Z

concatenate the mountOptions into a single variable with explanation for "resolve-symlinks"

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:51, 4 August 2026
Line 379:		Line 379:
	{ pkgs, ... }:		{ pkgs, ... }:

			let
			# Mount options for the bind mounts
			mountOptions = [
			"ro"
			"x-gvfs-hide"
			# Resolves symlinks as if they were real files
			# Needed for things like OnlyOffice
			"resolve-symlinks"
			];
			in
	{		{
	# Bind mounts fonts, icons and themes from		# Bind mounts fonts, icons and themes from
Line 395:		Line 405:
	device = "/run/current-system/sw/share/X11/fonts";		device = "/run/current-system/sw/share/X11/fonts";
	fsType = "fuse.bindfs";		fsType = "fuse.bindfs";
	options = [		options = mountOptions;
	~~"ro"~~
	~~"resolve-symlinks"~~
	~~"x-gvfs-hide"~~
	];
	};		};

Line 406:		Line 412:
	device = "/run/current-system/sw/share/icons";		device = "/run/current-system/sw/share/icons";
	fsType = "fuse.bindfs";		fsType = "fuse.bindfs";
	options = [		options = mountOptions;
	~~"ro"~~
	~~"resolve-symlinks"~~
	~~"x-gvfs-hide"~~
	];
	};		};

	# Themes		# Themes
	fileSystems."/usr/share/themes" = {		fileSystems."/usr/share/themes" = {
	device = "/run/current-system/sw/share/themes";		device = "/run/current-system/sw/share/themes";
	fsType = "fuse.bindfs";		fsType = "fuse.bindfs";
	options = [		options = mountOptions;
	~~"ro"~~
	~~"resolve-symlinks"~~
	~~"x-gvfs-hide"~~
	];
	};		};
	}		}

ScatteredCognition: Simplified the Flatpak font/icon/theme fixes part and made them directly use the host font/icon/theme instead of manually declaring separate packages

2026-08-04T06:51:47Z

Simplified the Flatpak font/icon/theme fixes part and made them directly use the host font/icon/theme instead of manually declaring separate packages

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:51, 4 August 2026
Line 375:		Line 375:
	<translate>==== Solution 3: Configure bindfs for fonts/cursors/icons support ==== <!--T:67--></translate>		<translate>==== Solution 3: Configure bindfs for fonts/cursors/icons support ==== <!--T:67--></translate>
	<translate><!--T:68-->		<translate><!--T:68-->
	Alternatively, you can expose relevant ~~packages~~ directly under <code>/usr/share/...</code> paths. This will also enable Flatpak to use a custom cursor theme if you have one. ~~This solution doesn't require~~ <~~code~~>fonts.fontDir.enable</~~code> to be enabled.<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">~~		Alternatively, you can expose relevant host paths in <code>/run/current-system/sw/share/</code> directly under <code>/usr/share/...</code> paths. This will also enable Flatpak to use a custom cursor theme if you have one.<syntaxhighlight lang="nixos" line="1">
	system.fsPackages = [ pkgs.bindfs ];		# flatpak-usr-fix.nix
	~~fileSystems = let~~		{ pkgs, ... }:
	~~mkRoSymBind~~ = ~~path:~~ {
	device = ~~path~~;		{
			# Bind mounts fonts, icons and themes from
			# The /run/current-system/sw/share/* paths
			# to their /usr/share/* equivalents

			# Expose all fonts
			# under /run/current-system/sw/share/X11/fonts
			fonts.fontDir.enable = true;

			# Flatpak: Bind mounts /usr/share/* directories
			system.fsPackages = [ pkgs.bindfs ];

			# Fonts
			fileSystems."/usr/share/fonts" = {
			device = "/run/current-system/sw/share/X11/fonts";
	fsType = "fuse.bindfs";		fsType = "fuse.bindfs";
	options = [ "ro" "resolve-symlinks" "x-gvfs-hide" ];		options = [
			"ro"
			"resolve-symlinks"
			"x-gvfs-hide"
			];
	};		};
	~~fontsPkgs = config.fonts.packages ++ (with pkgs; [~~
	# ~~Add your cursor themes and icon packages here~~		# Icons
	~~bibata-cursors~~		fileSystems."/usr/share/icons" = {
	~~gnome-themes-extra~~		device = "/run/current-system/sw/share/icons";
	~~# etc~~.		fsType = "fuse.bindfs";
	~~]);~~		options = [
	~~x11Fonts~~ = ~~pkgs.runCommand~~ "~~X11~~-~~fonts~~"		"ro"
	{		"resolve-symlinks"
	~~preferLocalBuild~~ = ~~true~~;		"x-gvfs-hide"
	~~nativeBuildInputs~~ = ~~with pkgs;~~ [		];
	~~gzip~~		};
	~~mkfontdir~~
	];		# Themes
	}		fileSystems."/usr/share/themes" = {
	~~(''~~		device = "/run/current-system/sw/share/themes";
	~~mkdir -p~~ "~~$out~~/share/~~fonts~~"		fsType = "fuse.bindfs";
	~~font_regexp~~=~~'.*\.$ttf\\|ttc\\|otb\\|otf\\|pcf\\|pfa\\|pfb\\|bdf$$\.gz$?'~~		options = [
	''		"ro"
	~~+ (builtins.concatStringsSep~~ "~~\n" (builtins.map (pkg: ''~~		"resolve-symlinks"
	~~find ${toString pkg}~~ -~~regex "$font_regexp" \~~		"x-gvfs-hide"
	~~-exec ln -sf -t "$out~~/share/~~fonts~~" ~~'{}' \~~;
	~~'') fontsPkgs~~
	))
	~~+ ''~~
	cd "~~$out/share/fonts~~"
	~~mkfontscale~~
	~~mkfontdir~~
	~~cat $(find ${pkgs.font-alias}/ -name fonts.alias) >fonts.alias~~
	~~'')~~;
	~~aggregatedIcons~~ = ~~pkgs.buildEnv {~~
	~~name =~~ "~~system-icons~~";
	~~paths = fontsPkgs;~~
	~~pathsToLink = [~~
	"~~/share/icons~~"
	];		];
	};		};
	~~in {~~		}
	~~"/usr/share/icons" = mkRoSymBind (aggregatedIcons + "/share/icons");~~
	~~"/usr/share/fonts" = mkRoSymBind (x11Fonts + "/share/fonts");~~
	};

	~~<!--T:69-->~~
	~~nts.packages = with pkgs; [~~
	~~noto-fonts~~
	~~noto-fonts-color-emoji~~
	~~noto-fonts-cjk-sans~~
	];
	</syntaxhighlight>Note that font cache inside flatpak container may not be recreated after changes to fonts in <code>/usr/share/fonts</code>, because font cache seem to be relying on file timestamps that are missing in <code>/nix/store</code>.		</syntaxhighlight>Note that font cache inside flatpak container may not be recreated after changes to fonts in <code>/usr/share/fonts</code>, because font cache seem to be relying on file timestamps that are missing in <code>/nix/store</code>.
	</translate>		</translate>