He2

Jul 20, 2023

Editor for editing (primarily LaTeX) Hebrew files

The Hebrew Editor package is intended mostly for Hebrew speaking users for creating and editing Hebrew/English LaTeX documents.

This package provides a text terminal based word processor in the spirit of the good-old DOS days word processors which is extremely LaTeX oriented.


In this article, we’ll get acquainted with one of the most important and useful FreeBSD ports in the Hebrew category, namely “he2”. The FreeBSD ports system, for those who aren’t aware, serves as a collection of all the application directories from which FreeBSD users can install software.

Port ‘he2’, also known as ‘Classic-Hebrew’ font, is a MetaFont file providing a free Hebrew font that is certainly an essential tool for anyone who is dealing with Hebrew texts on FreeBSD. Whether you’re taking your first steps with the Hebrew language or you’re an already fluent speaker, you’ll find this port considerably useful.

Getting Started

Begin by installing the port. Using the terminal, navigate to the ports directory and execute the make install clean command like so

cd /usr/ports/hebrew/he2/
make install clean

This command will download the source code, build the port, and then install the software. The ‘clean’ command will ensure that all the temporary files created during the build process will be removed, keeping your system tidy.

To confirm that the port ‘he2’ has been successfully installed, you can input the following command

pkg info | grep he2

This will display the details of the installed ‘he2’ package including its version number.

Using the ‘he2’ Font

Once the port is successfully installed, you can use the ‘he2’ Font in any text processing program that supports Custom Fonts on FreeBSD.

Let’s assume you wish to use this font in Emacs, one of the most powerful text editors available on FreeBSD.

To use the ‘he2’ Font in Emacs, add the following lines to your ‘.emacs’ configuration file using any text editor of your choice

set-fontset-font t 'hebrew-iso8859-8 font-spec family "Classic-Hebrew"

Save the file and restart Emacs. You should now be able to write in Hebrew using the ‘he2’ Font.

Benefits of ‘he2’

Now, let’s talk about the benefits of using the ‘he2’ font. Here are some key advantages

  • Availability As a FreeBSD port, ‘he2’ is readily available for any FreeBSD user.
  • Ease of use Once installed, using the font is as easy as adjusting your text editors’ settings.
  • Aesthetics ‘he2’ offers an aesthetically pleasing representation of the Classic Hebrew script, which can greatly improve your reading and writing experience.
  • Versatility ‘he2’ can be used in any text processing program that supports Custom Fonts, which makes it a versatile choice for FreeBSD users.
  • Open Source Like other FreeBSD Ports, ‘he2’ is an open-source software. This means users can modify it as needed, working with the source code to potentially customize the font to cater their preferences.

While we’re discussing open-source utilities available from FreeBSD, it’d be an omission not to mention ‘nmap’, a highly efficient port scanning tool. If you’re dealing with IT security on FreeBSD, we strongly recommend using it. You can access it [here]https//freebsdsoftware.org/security/nmap.html.

Just like with ‘nmap’, the presence of the ‘he2’ port add to the diverse range of utility that FreeBSD brings to the user. Be it altering text aesthetics or ensuring IT security, FreeBSD provides a platform that fosters productivity and versatility for its users. The ‘he2’ port is no exception and serves as a vibrant example of FreeBSD’s commitment towards delivering a diverse toolkit to its users.


Checkout these related ports:
  • Py-pyluach - Python package for manipulating Hebrew dates
  • Libreoffice -
  • Hunspell - Hebrew hunspell dictionaries
  • Hspell - Hebrew spellchecker and morphology engine
  • Elmar-fonts - Collection of Hebrew fonts from El-Mar software, Ltd
  • Culmus - Free Hebrew Type1 fonts
  • Aspell - Aspell Hebrew dictionaries