Font rendering in IntelliJ on Linux looks horrid. Any Java based application does for that matter. I can’t take it anymore. I just burnt 30 minutes looking into solutions. Fastest option, run it on the Linux optimised JVM tuxjdk.

tuxjdk is a series of patched to OpenJDK to enhance user experience with Java-based and Swing-based tools (NetBeans, Idea, Android Studio, etc)

Instructions (for me) next time this happens:

  1. Download tuxjdk and unpack it in /usr/lib/jvm, e.g. /usr/lib/jvm/jdk-8u25-tuxjdk-b01
  2. Run IntelliJ like this; export IDEA_JDK=/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-8u25-tuxjdk-b01/ & ./idea.sh

IntelliJ running on Fedora 22 and tuxjdk