HowTo: Have Windows fonts in Mint (or Ubuntu) [Link fixed]

[speaker219]

Most sites where designed to be viewed with Microsoft/Windows fonts and the pages were created with those fonts in mind. Therefore, most sites look quite better with windows fonts.
Try going to yahoo.com in a fresh install of ubuntu or mint, the page looks messed up and the fonts look too bold. Here's what yahoo looks like after the howto is completed:

This works has been tested in Linux Mint 3.0 and Standard Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty.
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HowTo
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1. back up your /etc/fonts folder somewhere just to be safe
2. Run the following command in terminal

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts

3. Download the following:
http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/8/13/ ... 5B1%5D.tbz
edit 1/12/08: sorry about the broken link..that's free hosts for ya..fixed
EDIT: Please use the default download link above, unless it's not working. here are a few mirrors just in case (please try the links in order):
http://sp219.k4r1m.com/fontconfig.tbz
http://rapidshare.de/files/38417273/fontconfig.tbz.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BG0EOHFM
http://www.mediafire.com/?41ctjdg4x9m
http://myfreefilehosting.com/f/99159dc059_0.1MB

4. Extract all of the files in the .tbz into the folder "/etc/fonts"
5. Log off and log back on

To restore the old font style, delete the file in your "/etc/fonts" folder called "local.conf" then log off and the fonts will be normal. If that doesn't work, you can delete everything in your /etc/fonts folder and replace it with the backup you made. Also, thanks to whoever made this a sticky

[Ede]

Good guide, though the fonts sucks. :3

The main problem with this guide is that it overwrites the fonts. Imagine a computer with multiple users, and not everyone likes to use the windows-fonts. Could you find out how one can seperate the fonts so users only need to change the font-settings for each users only?

[speaker219]

It actually doesn't overwrite anything. All of the old linux fonts are there, and if you want it back to normal all you have to do is delete the local.conf file.

[speaker219]

you seriously think the fonts suck? i think they look much better than the default mint fonts. like i said, most fonts were designed with windows fonts in mind. go to yahoo right now and you'll see what i'm talking about

[Ede]

It actually doesn't overwrite anything. All of the old linux fonts are there, and if you want it back to normal all you have to do is delete the local.conf file.

Ah, okey. My fault. :3

you seriously think the fonts suck? i think they look much better than the default mint fonts. like i said, most fonts were designed with windows fonts in mind. go to yahoo right now and you'll see what i'm talking about

1. Yeah, I seriously think the windows-fonts sucks. Arial is a cheap excuse for a very poor 'copy' of helvetica, since MS refused to buy the licenses for helvetica. Most graphical designers agree on that arial is one of the ugliest fonts ever created, from a graphical designers view.

2. What what what? Most fonts were designed with Windows fonts in mind? I really hope that was a typo there, fonts have been around for over 600 years.

I hope that what you tried to write was "most webpages are designet with windows fonts in mind". Partly true, but every webdesigner that builds one page out of MS-fonts deserves to die. It's like denying people in wheelchairs into hospitals, because the designers of the hospitals refused to design user-friendly and accessibility. There's a reason we have CSS.
I just checked yahoo.com with my os-x-fonts. Should the page look different, if not only just prettier because of mac-fonts instead of windows-fonts? Nothing looks messed up.

3. Who uses yahoo anyway? O.o

[speaker219]

I actually don't use yahoo eiether i was just testing my internet and noticed it looked messed up. but i followed your os-x howto and i'm liking these fonts too.

[MintPad]

It actually doesn't overwrite anything. All of the old linux fonts are there, and if you want it back to normal all you have to do is delete the local.conf file.

Ah, okey. My fault. :3

you seriously think the fonts suck? i think they look much better than the default mint fonts. like i said, most fonts were designed with windows fonts in mind. go to yahoo right now and you'll see what i'm talking about

1. Yeah, I seriously think the windows-fonts sucks. Arial is a cheap excuse for a very poor 'copy' of helvetica, since MS refused to buy the licenses for helvetica. Most graphical designers agree on that arial is one of the ugliest fonts ever created, from a graphical designers view.

2. What what what? Most fonts were designed with Windows fonts in mind? I really hope that was a typo there, fonts have been around for over 600 years.

I hope that what you tried to write was "most webpages are designet with windows fonts in mind". Partly true, but every webdesigner that builds one page out of MS-fonts deserves to die. It's like denying people in wheelchairs into hospitals, because the designers of the hospitals refused to design user-friendly and accessibility. There's a reason we have CSS.
I just checked yahoo.com with my os-x-fonts. Should the page look different, if not only just prettier because of mac-fonts instead of windows-fonts? Nothing looks messed up.

3. Who uses yahoo anyway? O.o

Good Lord, man, are you serious? First off, many major sites use Arial as their default who surely employ top-notch designers. I think the guys at Google have some sense of good website design. I build most of my pages with this kind of declaration:

Code: Select all

body {
font-family: arial, sans-serif;
}

or Verdana, Trebuchet, take your pick.

[Ede]

Good Lord, man, are you serious? First off, many major sites use Arial as their default who surely employ top-notch designers. I think the guys at Google have some sense of good website design. I build most of my pages with this kind of declaration:

Code: Select all

body {
font-family: arial, sans-serif;
}

or Verdana, Trebuchet, take your pick.

I think you missed the point. If you design your page with around a font, it will look bad on other os'es that doesn't have that font by default. Google is very loose on that, there's no problem in surfing with Linux, which does not have arial. Bad coding, on the other hand, makes sure that things look ugly unless you have the fonts required, your monitor is perfect, and you don't zoom with your browser.

Verdana and Trebuchet are much better choices. I use them both.

[subversiveasset2.0]

I'm not touching the semi-argument here, but I think if there were some way to get the equivalent of cleartype, it would be a little better.

[Ede]

subversiveasset2.0: It sure is. Every font you can find can be used. Or atleas, "almost" every. :3

[weima]

It works. Thanks a lot

[moheganer2]

when i went to extract to /etc/font a message came up that i did not have permissions to extract there.

[Ede]

when i went to extract to /etc/font a message came up that i did not have permissions to extract there.

That's because that folder is root only.
You could make a folder in your home-folder, and name it .fonts (It will be hidden, just show hidden files and you will find it) and extract the files there. But then, the fonts will only show up on your account.

To make them global, you could read my how-to, http://www.linuxmint.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3499

The how-to is for mac-fonts, but the basic instructions works for every font.

[TheCodeIsSensitive]

Here's a problem I'd like to see a solution to. Below is an image of this thread's title. Left is rendered in Firefox, right is rendered in IE. The one in IE just looks better. Why can't Firefox (in any OS) deal with fonts better?



An expanded version

[Ede]

You should read my threads, they rock. ;P

Copy-pasta from my thread about OS-X-fonts in mint;

################

Find the font-configuration-menu. You can use terminal;

Code: Select all

gnome-font-properties

If you use terminal, do not use sudo.

[...]

Press the 'Details'-button in the lower right corner.
Choose Grayscale-smoothing, and for hinting, I use none. You could probably find something that suits you.

################

That last part about hinting makes the fonts look better. I prefer grayscale-hinting, but ofcourse, this is all up to you.

[techgeek40]

Well, two things
First, I would tell newbies (such as I - I'm a VERY old windows person) how to extract files
Second - the location http://localhostr.com/files/f1f6f300383aa38e236c.tbz doesn't have the file requested.

[derixc]

thanks! my font looks much better now.

deric
http://ubuntusite.com

[DR1665]

This is very cool. Using Ubuntu for less than a month, now. Just getting familiar with use of terminal. Ran the command in the article and sat on the couch in amazement as Ubuntu did the rest. When it was done, and it told me it was done, I actually said, out loud, "Wow." Re-loaded the Open Office and everything was right there waiting for me.

Consider me impressed with Linux.

[chris0101]

I realize that this is resurrecting a dead thread and that this sort of thing is frowned upon, but a lot of the links are now dead.

I uploaded the tarball myself:

http://www.mediafire.com/?o2zwntzyqzm

[harlekein]

Thanks man! Much better