[Pkg-urxvt-maintainers] [Bug 309792] Re: rxvt-unicode: Excessive font spacing

[Adam Brockett]

I don't really know the history behind this issue, but i did some
digging/testing.

When i configure my ~/.Xdefaults as only:
    URxvt.font: xft:Monospace
I get the behavior described in this bug.  If I do a `xrdb -merge ~/.Xdefaults` from the command line, I get no change in behavior.  HOWEVER, if I instead execute `xrdb -load ~/.Xdefaults`, then open a new terminal, line spacing is proper.  Looking at the scripts in the /etc/ directory, i believe Ubuntu loads the ~/.Xdefaults using -merge.

Digging deeper with xrdb -query, I added added the following line to my .Xdefaults:
    Xft.rgba: rgb

Then the problem re-appears.

Workaround for issue described in bug:
run `xrdb -load ~/.Xdefaults` sometime early in the xinit process.  
letterspace patch seems hackish if issue can be worked around as above

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/309792

Title:
  rxvt-unicode: Excessive font spacing

Status in “rxvt-unicode” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: rxvt-unicode

  I'm having a problem with font spacing in urxvt. All characters seem
  to have excessive white-space in between each other. I use DejaVu Sans
  Mono (size 8) and there is a big difference between xterm and urxvt.

  Heres a mockup of what I mean: http://i35.tinypic.com/qsmp.png
  (stolen from an ArchLinux forum post here: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=55634 and another related
  thread here: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=44800)

  My .Xdefaults looks like this:

  urxvt.font:                 xft:DejaVu Sans Mono:size=8