Wiki - https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/Fontconfig2.18 Discussion thread - https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/f45-change-proposal-fontconfig-2-18-s...
This is a proposed Change for Fedora Linux. This document represents a proposed Change. As part of the Changes process, proposals are publicly announced in order to receive community feedback. This proposal will only be implemented if approved by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee.
== Summary == Update fontconfig package in Fedora from 2.17 to 2.18.
== Owner == * Name: [[User:Tagoh| Akira TAGOH]] * Email: tagoh AT redhat DOT com
== Detailed Description == This aims to upgrade fontconfig package from 2.17 to 2.18. The highlight of changes in 2.18 is available [https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/fontconfig/2026-May/007334.html here].
== Feedback ==
== Benefit to Fedora == Fedora ships the latest release of fontconfig. Also, the safe guard in new cache format to avoid updating from older versions of fontconfig.
== Scope == * Proposal owners: ** Submit PR for appstream and python-fontconfig to update the code because they use freetype-dependent API without fcfreetype.h
* Other developers: ** The above package owners may need to apply a patch before mass-reubuild. Otherwise it may simply fails.
* Release engineering: [https://forge.fedoraproject.org/releng/tickets/issues/13404 #13404]
* Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)
* Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)
* Alignment with the Fedora Strategy:
== Upgrade/compatibility impact == 2.18 should be basically compatible with 2.17. However, if users has own fonts installed, they may see different font matching behavior. In that case, users may need to have extra config rule to get it back to normal for a short term.
Steps to check: <ol> <li>Run `fc-scan -f "%{genericfamily}\n" /path/to/fontdir/fontfile`</li> <li>If the result shows 0:</li> <li>Create a config file and store it to $HOME/.config/fontconfig/conf.d, e.g. 0-'''familyname'''-scan.conf: <div style="white-space: pre; font-family: monospace; background: #f8f9fa; border: 1px solid #eaecf0; padding: 1em;"> <fontconfig> <match target="scan"> <test name="family"> <string><b>Family Name</b></string> </test> <edit name="genericfamily" mode="assign_replace"> <const><b>Generic Alias Name such as sans-serif, serif, monospace</b></const> </edit> </match> </fontconfig> </div></li> <li>Regenerate a cache with `fc-cache -rv /path/to/fontdir`</li> </ol>
== Early Testing (Optional) ==
== How To Test == Try upgrading fontconfig to 2.18 and your favarite GUI applications if the font selection works as expected.
== User Experience == The font matching behavior for fallback should be better than 2.17.x.
== Dependencies == Nope more than the above packages requring some source code change.
== Contingency Plan == * Contingency mechanism: (What to do? Who will do it?) Maintainer will revert fontconfig to 2.17.x * Contingency deadline: 100% Code Complete Deadline * Blocks release? No
== Documentation == * https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/fontconfig/2026-May/007334.html * https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/fontconfig/fontconfig/-/releases
== Release Notes ==