wine-fonts on Linux interferes with Bold Styling for GitHub Markdown

[Poikilos]

I searched for the issue (open and closed) and could not find it. I do not know of any terms that can be used to identify the issue better other than what I've put in this issue's title field.

Description

GitHub markdown does not work in Brave.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Write something in a GitHub Comment
2. Put asterisks around a word.
   Example: Make Protection Prevent Changing Rotation Poikilos/EnlivenMinetest#45 "more information needed" is bold in other browsers

Actual result:

Word is not bold

Expected result:

Word should be bold.

Reproduces how often:

Always happens, only in Brave.
Doesn't occur on Updated Firefox on Fedora 29 or updated Firefox or Chrome on Windows 10
Doesn't occur on Chromium 62.0.3202.94 (Official Build) (64-bit) on Windows.

Brave version (brave://version info)

Brave	0.59.35 Chromium: 72.0.3626.81 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	ac8b982e05014492d1bd7d317628a4f22a97ffa0-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#796}
OS	Linux

Reproducible on current release:

• yes:

Brave	0.62.50 Chromium: 73.0.3683.86 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	f9b0bec6063ea50ce2b71f5b9abbae7beee319a6-refs/branch-heads/3683@{#858}
OS	Linux

Website problems only:

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields?
  No.
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome?
  No.

[cndouglas]

Please try downloading the latest release version of Brave (0.62.50): https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v0.62.50

Bold text is working fine for me (Brave 0.65.16 (nightly) on macOS 10.14.x), so this issue must be version specific or platform specific.

Screenshot of my comment:

[srirambv]

Works fine for me on Ubuntu 18.04

[Poikilos]

Hmm... After update, it is still not working even with shields down.
I tried disabling wallabagger, the only extension. I tried Reset Settings but it just spins forever. I still waited 5 mins or more then restarted the browser, and the markdown behavior is the same.

Brave	0.62.50 Chromium: 73.0.3683.86 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	f9b0bec6063ea50ce2b71f5b9abbae7beee319a6-refs/branch-heads/3683@{#858}
OS	Linux

[srirambv]

Which Linux are you running? The only thing I can think of is keyboard settings on Linux. Can you check what keyboard is set in settings?

[Poikilos]

I am not following you. What keyboard settings (kernel, desktop environment, Brave)? I have a US keyboard layout. The markdown is correct, as it works in other browsers. Today I put an example link in the original post under "Steps to Reproduce". I am using Fedora 29 and the issue occurs before and after updating (now I have linux kernel 5...).

[srirambv]

Seems to work on Fedora 29 running kernel 4.x
Here's the recording: https://youtu.be/viiC3gMbgvU

@Poikilos could you record the steps you are doing?

[Poikilos]

NOTE: The reference to xBrowserSync above is unintentional and part of some sample data.

• more information needed - what mod is used by mg (where is the code for these barrels)

- **more information needed** - what mod is used by mg (where is the code for these barrels)

It is still happening after upgrading to "Version 0.63.55 Chromium: 74.0.3729.131 (Official Build) (64-bit)
".

[Poikilos]

If I paste the text from Brave into another program, it is bold:

@srirambv @cndouglas What desktop environments have you used to test this? I'm using GNOME and now I'm at GNOME Version 3.30.2.

[Poikilos]

bold text

**bold text**

fails as well.

[bsclifton]

Looks good to me; are there OS specific settings which could be affecting this?

[srirambv]

@Poikilos Using Gnome 3.30.2 as well. Same behaviour on Gnome 3.28.2 as well.
https://youtu.be/kLPKSbQ0oYc

Have you tried creating a new person profile via the people icon in URL bar and check if this reproduces? I assume this is to do with some changes in the profile. I am using a standard vanilla install of brave on Fedora.

[Poikilos]

It still happens on a new Brave "person" or even an unused linux user account.

I'm now at Version 0.64.76 Chromium: 74.0.3729.157 (Official Build) (64-bit)

[srirambv]

Can you check what font is set in chrome://settings/fonts? It looks like there seems to be extra space between *. Have you changed the font format on you machine by any chance?

[Poikilos]

I didn't change it, and I don't see how that could be it considering the issue still happens on an unused OS user account, but here you go:

[Poikilos]

Could it be caused by having wine-fonts installed?

[bsclifton]

@Poikilos given that we aren't able to reproduce on a stock install, any information is appreciated. For example, you can try removing wine-fonts or starting with a fresh install and adding back items until it breaks

[Poikilos]

Wow, after removing wine-fonts:

• Brave crashes on start (the first time it ever crashed)
• Upon reloading Brave, all of my tabs are gone--they are not even in Recenty Closed Windows
• The font issue is resolved

There must be some way to make it work with wine-fonts Arial (or ignore Arial on Linux), right?

Is there any way I can:

• give you a log helpful for diagnosing that crash, so I can start a separate issue for it (the cause may be obvious though--saved tabs expect system fonts that may have been removed)
  • may be related to Previous session lost (open tabs) - how to restore? #4416 "Previous session lost (open tabs) - how to restore?" but that issue doesn't have a known cause--is removing fonts the cause?
  • Automatically send crash reports to Brave: off
  • On Startup: Continue where you left off
• get my tabs back

Version 0.64.77 Chromium: 74.0.3729.169 (Official Build) (64-bit)

[Poikilos]

My Crash Reports directory is empty. If you are going to have sending crash reports turned off by default, maybe there is some way to at least save them.

[bsclifton]

@Poikilos doh ☹️ Sorry to hear you had the crash and lost the tabs. But glad to understand that wine-fonts removal fixes

• For the crash, you can try going to brave://crashes to see if anything shows up there. You should see an entry and you may be able to send the report

• For the tab loss, usually you can push Ctrl + Shift + T to restore the last tab (or window) that was closed. You can also check for a history menu. If keyboard shortcut doesn't work and history menu doesn't show entries, the tabs may have been lost

[Poikilos]

1. Wow! Thanks so much--Ctrl+T eventually got the Window back...apparently the same window: It may be a copy of the Window I recreated manually (tab for tab, in order) so I can't say for sure. I had already gotten them back a different way: I have The Great Suspender installed, so all of the tabs had The Great Suspender face icon and were all in the same area in history (restoring them that way took a while though).
2. Crash Reports is empty since reporting is off by default. See my previous comments.

Crash reporting is disabled.
Crash reporting is not available in Brave.

Crashes (0)

I wonder if The Great Suspender + removing fonts had anything to do with the crash.

[Poikilos]

I should refocus the thread (I'll create a separate issue for the crash above if I can narrow it down). The main issue regarding lack of bold styling may have to do with not having a bold variant of the font installed. I'm not clear on why the problem exists on Brave but not Chromium. I'm not sure how much Brave customizes the display engine. Can anyone who knows comment on that, or generally how Brave handles fonts without bold variants (vs how other browsers do), to move things along?

[Poikilos]

@bsclifton bump

[bsclifton]

@Poikilos is this still happening for you?

[Poikilos]

@bsclifton Yes, using:

• Fedora 32
• Brave Version 1.8.96 Chromium: 81.0.4044.138 (Official Build) (64-bit)
• wine-fonts-5.7-2.fc32.noarch