[Feature request] Add support for devnagari font rendering #1279
Description
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
When I open files or run programs that output Devanagari (Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Sanskrit, etc.) text in qterminal, the characters appear broken, overlapping, or are replaced by blank boxes. This makes it impossible to read log files, use CLI tools for Indic languages, or do any localized development work inside qterminal.
Describe the solution you'd like
qterminal should render Devanagari text correctly by:
- Supporting OpenType shaping for Devanagari script (ligatures, re-ordering, mark positioning, etc.).
- Respecting fontconfig fallback so that if the active monospace font lacks Devanagari glyphs, an appropriate Devanagari-capable font is used automatically.
- Preserving the monospaced grid while still allowing wide glyphs (like “श्री”) to occupy double cells when necessary, similar to how CJK characters are handled.
Describe eventual alternatives you've considered
- Using Konsole or GNOME Terminal instead: they render Devanagari correctly, but I prefer qterminal’s lightweight footprint and tight LXQt integration.
- Pre-processing output through
fribidior piping intokonsoleonly when Devanagari appears: this is cumbersome and breaks interactive TUIs. - Installing patched fonts: even with proper fonts, qterminal does not perform the required OpenType shaping, so the text remains garbled.
Context
I maintain CLI utilities and log-analysis scripts for Indic-language projects. When bugs are reported in Hindi or Marathi, I need to inspect logs and reproduce issues directly in the terminal. Currently I have to open a second, heavier terminal emulator just for this purpose, which defeats qterminal’s “lightweight yet featureful” goal. Adding Devanagari support would let qterminal serve as the single, daily-driver terminal for multilingual developers.