Beyond technical improvements, Linux Kernel 6.19 will also deliver something that, oddly enough, can be seen from a more aesthetic point of view. And more specifically, it is set to introduce a new Terminus 10×18 console bitmap font, offering a clearer, more balanced option for users who rely on text-mode consoles.
The addition arrives through a recent PR as part of a broader set of fbdev updates targeting the 6.19-rc1 cycle. Expectations are that the new font will improve readability in environments where console clarity still matters, especially on modern laptops and framebuffer-based systems.
The Terminus 10×18 font is designed specifically for mid-density 13–16-inch laptop displays with resolutions such as 1280×800 and 1440×900. Existing built-in fonts, most notably the long-standing 8×16 fallback used by the kernel for decades, tend to appear cramped or thin on these panels.
This made me remember that one time several years ago when I was wondering if there was any way to change that font and learned there was some sort of service that allowed you to do that in boot time, but the downside was that there was some sort of what it’s known at frontend web development as “FOUT” (flash of unstyled text) and you could avoid that by converting your .pcf font to C code and patch it into the kernel code, but at that point I gave up.