Berkeley Mono Typeface
berkeleygraphics.com
berkeleygraphics.com
I use it on my terminals, text editors, IDE, and browser, and it's both unobtrusive and delightful, at the same time. If you're into dark themes, pair with Gruvbox Dark. You won't regret it.
It's doesn't follow the trend, but puts its own rules on the table, and it shows.
I can't recommend this enough.
I prefer the version with ligatures disabled, but it's nice to see them available.
I already expect Neil will earn a purchase from me for Houston Mono when it's available. I have a terminal based "game" experience I've been toying with and waiting to use it for.
Second your Gruvbox comment, although I recently decided to take TokyoNight for a spin, I'll loop back eventually, probably!
Can you back up your astroturfing claim with explicit links to each comment that fits your description?
Because I found none.
(I almost bought it after trialing it for a few days, but ended up going with MonoLisa.)
>Swapped: '/' and '\', '*' and '#'
Is that latter a common sort of thing in this scenario? I get the idea—certainly makes coding/terminal/markdown annoying—but I don't think I've seen that done elsewhere.
I really enjoy this font for development and writing documentation. I carry it around for everything. Default monospace across the board: Terminal, IDE, Notes; sometimes I go buck-wild and monospace the entire Desktop-Environment to match.
Thanks Neil for a great product.
Do you have any plans to add the different variants in as stylistic alternates (SALTn tables)? This is how FontFont encoded two styles of numbers and other various symbols into a single OpenType font. With FF Zwo I like some of the alternates but not others and this lets me choose.
The reason why we have a "font configurator" is because lot of terminals/IDEs/tools/OS, etc haven't got a full support for OpenType features. So we let users configure it as they like and it just works.
Can highly recommend, also it is free and has several styles(x5).
Although I'm personally not a fan of ligatures, I feel they may increase mental burden at times;
for example having to look closely if it's = vs == or == vs === among other examples.
You’re right! Check out the NL (no ligature) version: https://github.com/JetBrains/JetBrainsMono/tree/master/fonts...
Conversely I can turn them on for code I didn't write.
There is no downside to ligatures.
I still bought it, because it's gorgeous, thank you for sharing it. I've emailed the font creator so hopefully they've got plans for thinner versions.
I wasn't able to find anything better yet after trying a lot of fonts: Fira, JetBrains Mono, Iosevka, Monaspace, Ubuntu Mono, and others.
Or perhaps I'm too familiar with Hack now and everything else now looks weird..
Fira Code: free monospaced font with programming ligatures
https://github.com/tonsky/FiraCode
EDIT: @airstrike beat me to it. Anyway, that's my favorite.
A year later, I still love the way code looks on my screen. I feel like it's one of the better investments I've made.
If you think $75 is expensive is for a functional piece of art, look at the license of Operator Mono.
Bunch of discussion last year on a Show HN:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30557557
The ligatures were released earlier this year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34583520
Not for you. But for others, yes.
How about you post something new for a change, instead of asking this question repeatedly and not getting the idea that other people might have had a different experience from you.
All you do is police the site, and it shows: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=ChrisArchitect
You are clearly oblivious as to how off-putting your behaviour is to new contributions. Just think on that. I wish this site had a feature to ignore users.
[In 20 hours this has garnered 308 points and 122 comments and you are bleating "Anything new here?" As I said before, read the room. The world doesn't revolve around you. Perhaps you are running a bot.]
Seriously, ChrisArchitect, that’s highly off-putting. I rehash things with my friends all the time. Very often there’s nothing new about those specific things, but the context they live in has developed and we enjoy discussing them in the new context.
For instance, since the last time Berkeley Mono was the subject, Monaspace was released. Now we can talk about how Berkeley Mono relates to the current space.
I beseech thee to knock it off. This isn’t Wikipedia and we don’t need deletionists gatekeeping what’s worth discussing. It seems a lot of people are enjoying the conversation. Let them.
Some people have already mentioned here that Berkeley Mono is not available as Nerd Font. I would like to briefly point out that Nerd Fonts provides a font patcher tool (https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts#font-patcher).
Update: I tried the font patcher on the trial version, but it didn't work. The font patcher ran successfully, and I can see all the added glyphs in Font Book on my Mac, but the glyphs don't work in my terminal.
Output from the font patcher is here: https://app.warp.dev/block/sWNVtsGQkYqvaa3HXa0eFN
Further update: Works in iTerm2, but not in Warp. The plot thickens!
Further further update: Some removing and restarting and reinstalling fixed it! I think Warp was caching something.
It doesn't try too hard and is legible, for me, at smaller sizes on macOS.
Still, I often go back to what I know and what I got used to as the default on the OS.
So, as a macOS user, I work with Apple's SF Mono:
https://developer.apple.com/fonts/
Also, I never get bored of discussions on what dev monospace fonts people use! :-D
Support Neil, he’s a good chap. I can’t wait for Houston!
I’m sure it’s cooking and will be done when it’s done, but the teaser really makes me excited.
A good alternative to me is Spline Sans Mono. I don't like its curved "l", though.
Github Link: https://github.com/be5invis/Sarasa-Gothic
Specimen (made by someone else): https://picaq.github.io/sarasa/
There's also mplus 1 code:
Edit: for example the space between the ‘m’ and the ‘a’ in ‘machine’ seems very big.
I am also hesitant about working (even free) third-party tools into my workflow. I have had the pleasure of dealing with these tools going belly-up (a couple just did, but they were important -not critical).
I am also hesitant about working (even free) third-party tools into my workflow.
I use Xcode. Arguably, it's "free," if you ignore the fact that I run it on a $4,000 computer, but it is also the OS maker's tool of choice.
But each tool I add, each dependency in my workflow, is another rusty link in the chain.
I feel that we have gotten a bit too comfortable with adding ingredients to the stew.
A font isn't really that big a deal (unless you sell them). Things like documentation generators and linters, are more substantial (and I just had to remove both from my workflow, because they don't seem to have survived the shift to Xcode 15).
I don't want to "name names," because that doesn't often end well. It's a personal decision, on my part to use, or not use, software. Many of the more esoteric tools that I use are "nice to have" addons, as opposed to "critical path" stuff.
I will say that I use Xcode, because I write native Swift apps, and it doesn't really make sense to use anything else. I try to limit extensions and whatnot. Most of the dependencies that I use in my projects were written by Yours Truly. I've written a boatload of them. I publish them as open source, but I don't think anyone else uses them; which is fine, by me.
I also use Git, because Linus writes code that I don't mind depending on. It has completely transformed the way that I do configuration management.
Back when I taught myself Android, I used Android Studio/Java (so you know that was a while ago), for the same reason that I use Xcode/Swift. It was the tool supported by the OS maker.
$75 prices out quite a lot of people.
What I'm seeing in this discussion is that the developer market is pretty price-sensitive, possibly because they're paying out of pocket and not charging back to clients or expensing.
Fair enough, there might not be as many people ready to pay for a font as I imagine.
As for the price, it's entirely to the discretion of the maker and it's impossible to determine what the value is for the customer, so I'm not judging that.
It does price out people from lower purchasing power countries and people who are short on cash (hey that's me). But as you mentioned, it's very possible that a lot of these people would rather use a free font.
I'll save this one for when I have more disposable income :)
That said I've not bought Berkeley Mono, and probably won't (mostly because the style isn't quite to my current taste). I've bought fonts in the past, typically drawing the piracy line when I make money from a font (e.g. letterhead, business cards). Over the past two decades the list includes: Bell Centennial and Bell Gothic (great at small sizes), FF Meta and FF Zwo (for copy), and FF Mister K (uses ligatures to create a more organic looking handwriting font).
Much like with other software there are great free alternatives that pop up every once in a while on HN when the topic of coding fonts comes up. Fira Code (by Erik Spiekermann of FF fame), Plex (IBM), Source Code (Adobe), Cascadia (Microsoft), and JetBrains Mono (duh). Notice that they're all backed by large orgs — again, fonts are a ton of work. Contrast that with something like B612 (Airbus) which is cool but also basically abandonware and lacks the fit and finish of the previous fonts.
If you want the retro vibe and are okay pirating abandonware, the guy at int10h.org maintains a collection of fonts scraped from vintage ROMs[0]. But again these lack the polish you may be used to as they're way out of their element on modern systems.
Me? I'm currently using M+ Code 60[1] (Coji Morishita backed by Google) as a daily driver[2]. I'm enamored with its slightly quirky style (just enough to keep me interested) and its legibility as a console font.
0: https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/fontlist/
In the US, bitmapped fonts are not covered by copyright, as they're considered to be digital representations of typefaces (which aren't covered either).
Jetbrains Mono, which is also FOSS, seems nicer: https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/
does something about this typeface set it apart in a useful way from the zillion other free or default monospaced options? If anything it seemed a little awkward with the flourishes they added toward making it look fauxCR-able. (an artistic flourish I like as "zany graphic fun" but is it helpful for extended use?)
for the people who love it, I've no problem with enjoying flourishes, but it's calling itself serious. I'm serious and it's not taking me seriously.
On the contrary.
This sort of comment is why I have a love/hate relationship with HN. Love, because yesterday I learned some amazing stuff that I told my partner about in bed.
Hate, because of the assumptions that so many people are so quick to jump to. You know nothing about this guy’s motivations. (His name’s Neil. I’ve spoken to him. He seems like a really solid dude. He probably has thicker skin than me.)
So you come in here and you imply that this thing is essentially a scam to rob you of $75. You imply that Neil is a scammer, trying to rob you of $75.
It’s really shitty and I wish people wouldn’t do it.
Edit: I’m not saying “don’t criticise the site”. If you don’t like the site, say so. But don’t criticise the motivations about which you know literally nothing.
But the very same people will happily work for an advertising company under the guise of being a programmer and take a wage and bonus. Right on.
I can understand the skepticism against a paid font. There are some pretty grand ones available for free to anyone who'd like to use them. In this case, it was worth the premium to me to pay anyway. I don't think someone's automatically a cheapskate for thinking I'm nuts to buy a license.
Me too! But that's not what upset me. What upset me was the assumption of deceit in the parent post.
It's like drive-by shootings here sometimes; people see a thing, they don't like it, and they assume that the person creating it therefore has bad motives. I've been on the receiving end, directly, and it stinks. It makes this place worse.
I don't agree with your take on flourishes (in better terms, artistry). Every typeface has it. The process of designing a typeface is full of subjectivity and artistry.
I think most of the glyphs are straightforward, the ones that would take time are the greek symbols. Unable to commit at this time, we're already behind with Berkeley v2 release by 6 months! :-(
Berkeley Mono is plain gorgeous. I bought it after five minutes of looking at the trial. Everything made so much sense when I saw the inspirations you listed - Eurostile, OCR-B and DIN 1451 all have a special place in my heart.
But what's more, your site in its entirety is a work of art, in form and function. So many details, from the one-click newsletter signup when logged in to the plain-English license intros. It makes me want to build a site for myself again, something I haven't done in over a decade.
To my own surprise I've even signed up for the newsletter, something I haven't done anywhere for even longer.
Needlessly to say, I am a fan.
The font needs work, especially Bold cut. I completely redesigned all glyphs from scratch and trying to get to release it. It's been a learning experience. Also condensed version is coming with it. All upgrades will be free to existing customers.
Btw, I agree with OP about good samples. It also bothers me a little bit when I see huge zoomed in shots of typefaces: Good for grabbing attention, but bad functionally unless it’s a display typeface specifically for billboard/headline use. So I will go to town with samples in 12 point size. We have a few but clearly not enough.
As for the samples - for what its worth, what did it for me were the sections _Box drawing characters_ and _Exceptional legibility_. Just the telephone directory told me enough to download the trial.
It pains me that I will never be able to get my employer to spring for a commercial license - it would be a treat to rewrite our internal API documentation "Machine MX-4000"-style.