microsoft fonts on ubuntu
i, being part web dev, had to make sure that the fonts i used are “standard” web fonts. in the name interoperability, microsoft released its true type core fonts years ago. its was a free download and, in a way, successful in its intended purpose — a large number of websites use it because of the wide availability of microsoft products that distributed the font pack as an add-on. these days its no longer available for download via microsoft’s website. i am not surprised by this news.
fortunately, the font pack is available via ubuntu. its not installed by default since the font pack is proprietary. if you want to read up on its background you can visit this site.
the pack contains the following fonts:
Andale Mono
Arial Black
Arial (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Comic Sans MS (Bold)
Courier New (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Georgia (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Impact
Times New Roman (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Trebuchet (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Verdana (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Webdings
installing the font pack is easy with the help of the synaptic package manager. just for a search for “msttcorefonts” (without the quotations)
and then click on the check box beside the msttcorefonts entry and click mark for installation
the click on apply
you will then see an apply summary dialog box
click on apply and synaptic will start downloading and install the package
once the package is installed you will see this dialog box
just click on close and you’re almost done. there’s a bug in the installation of fonts that you’d have to restart your computer for the changes to take effect. just do a restart and you’re all set.
i used carthik’s ubuntu blog as reference and it also has instructions on how to install the fonts via the console.
he also mentioned in another of his blog entry about 300 easily installed free fonts for ubuntu. its a good read so check it out if you get the time.
