Optimal Use of Fonts on Linux

Avi Alkalay



Linux, Open Standards consultant :: IT and Software Architect
IBM Linux Impact Team :: ibm.com/linux

Donovan Rebbechi



Hal Burgiss



Copyright © 2004 Avi Alkalay, Donovan Rebbechi, Hal Burgiss

2004-12-24

Revision History
Revision 2004-12-2424 Dec 2004Revised by: avi
Small corrections and DocBook improvements.
Revision 2004-12-1212 Dec 2004Revised by: avi
Typos correction by Scott Brayban (sgrayban@borgnet.us).Finished links to msfonts and freetype RPMs.
Revision 2004-12-055 Dec 2004Revised by: avi
Merged with FDU-HOWTO.Finished RPM sections.Added "need help" appendix.Finished "About this doc" appendix.Ready for peer revision.
Revision 2004-11-2727 Nov 2004Revised by: avi
Created first sections.Merged with Font-HOWTO.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Why Fonts on Linux Aren't Straight Forward ?
3. Font Packages
3.1. Bitstream Vera Fonts
3.2. Microsoft Fonts
4. The Easy Steps to Enlighten Your Desktop
4.1. Get a Better FreeType RPM
4.2. Configure Your Desktop
5. Producing Portable Documents
5.1. Linux to Windows and vice-versa
5.2. Linux to Linux
5.3. Any to Any with OpenOffice.org and Bitstream Vera Fonts
5.4. A Very Small Guide of Style
6. Create RPMs of Your Fonts
6.1. Step 1: Prepare Your Environment to Build The Package
6.2. Step 2: Prepare the Fonts Files to Package
6.3. Step 3: Create a .spec File With This Template
6.4. Step 4: Build It
7. Designer's Guide for Modern Good Looking Documents
7.1. Families of Typefaces
7.2. Classifications of Typefaces
7.3. Ligatures, Small caps fonts and expert fonts
7.4. Font Metrics and Shapes
8. Font Technologies
8.1. Bitmap Fonts
8.2. TrueType Fonts
8.3. Type 1 Fonts
8.4. Type3 Fonts
8.5. Type 42 Fonts
8.6. Type 1 vs TrueType -- a comparison
9. Getting Fonts For Linux
9.1. True Type
9.2. Type 1 Fonts and Metafont
10. Useful Font Software for Linux
11. Ethics and Licensing Issues Related to Type
12. References
12.1. Font Information
12.2. Postscript and Printing Information
13. Glossary
A. Enabling Bytecode Interpreter in FreeType
B. We Need Your Help
C. About this Document
  Next
  Introduction