[Posted and mailed]
Quote:> The first thing I noticed in Netscape (Caldera's distro of
> Netscape 4.61) is that the fonts *SUCK*. (They're no great
> shakes in other apps like Star Office, either). I haven't
> even tried to print from Loki yet - that will happen in a couple
> of weeks when we get our new HP 970cse and Loki gets
> to own our LJIIp.
> So what's up with the fonts? I've heard two theories:
> 1. Lack of True Type fonts.
> 2. Most web pages target Microsoft fonts so they look bad on
> everything else.
> I'm skeptical about #2 because they even look bad on Linux
> oriented websites like www.kde.org, or www.linuxdoc.org
There's some truth to both of them, but more generally, the answer is that
the fonts that ship with Linux just aren't all that great. TrueType fonts
have the POTENTIAL to look better than PostScript fonts at typical screen
resolutions, but that potential is met by only a few fonts, and the best
PostScript fonts can look pretty good, too. If you're used to Microsoft
Windows, you're probably used to the best available TrueType fonts,
though, since the ones Microsoft ships (and installs for web use with
various products) are among the best available.
Concerning web pages "targeting" Microsoft fonts, that does occur -- a lot
of web pages use font changing codes and make the assumption that you're
running a Microsoft OS with a certain set of fonts available. If those
assumptions aren't met, the fonts may come out too small, too large, or in
some ugly substitute font (generally Courier).
Quote:> Why should truetype fonts matter so much for display? (I
> could see why they might be an issue for printing)
Actually, for printing PostScript Type 1 fonts are at least as good as
TrueType fonts; the hinting features of TrueType give it the potential
for better results at *LOW* resolutions.
Quote:> Also, what are the licensing issues for using TrueType technology?
> Apple licensed the technology to Microsoft. By what licensing rights
> to Linux users have access to it?
AFAIK, there are no insuperable patent issues with TrueType technology.
The bigger issue is font availability. Fortunately, Microsoft has made
some fonts that are excellent for screen display purposes available for
free, although not for redistribution. They can be obtained from:
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fontpack/default.htm
Download the Windows 3.1 versions; these are just zip files with .exe
extensions, IIRC, so you can extract them with unzip on Linux. These fonts
are the same as the ones they bundle with Internet Explorer.
Quote:> Assuming there are no licensing issues what's the best way to get
> and install TrueType fonts for Loki?
There are several TrueType rasterizers available for Linux. You can find
more details about how to set them up on:
http://www.frii.com/~meldroc/Font-Deuglification.html
For optimum use on the web, you need to give the fonts the specific names
that web authoring tools use. Here's an excerpt from my fonts.dir file
that includes appropriate names for the Microsoft fonts:
arial.ttf -monotype-arial-medium-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
arialbd.ttf -monotype-arial-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
ariali.ttf -monotype-arial-medium-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
arialbi.ttf -monotype-arial-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
comic.ttf -microsoft-comic sans ms-demibold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
comicbd.ttf -microsoft-comic sans ms-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
cour.ttf -monotype-courier new-medium-r-normal--0-0-0-0-m-0-iso8859-1
courbd.ttf -monotype-courier new-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-m-0-iso8859-1
couri.ttf -monotype-courier new-medium-i-normal--0-0-0-0-m-0-iso8859-1
courbi.ttf -monotype-courier new-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-m-0-iso8859-1
georgia.ttf -microsoft-georgia-medium-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
georgiab.ttf -microsoft-georgia-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
georgiai.ttf -microsoft-georgia-medium-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
georgiaz.ttf -microsoft-georgia-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
impact.ttf -monotype-impact-bold-r-condensed--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
monotype.ttf -monotype-monotypecom-medium-r-normal--0-0-0-0-m-0-iso8859-1
times.ttf -monotype-times new roman-medium-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
timesbd.ttf -monotype-times new roman-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
timesi.ttf -monotype-times new roman-medium-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
timesbi.ttf -monotype-times new roman-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
trebuc.ttf -microsoft-trebuchet ms-medium-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
trebucbd.ttf -microsoft-trebuchet ms-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
trebucbi.ttf -microsoft-trebuchet ms-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
trebucit.ttf -microsoft-trebuchet ms-medium-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
verdana.ttf -microsoft-verdana-medium-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
verdanab.ttf -microsoft-verdana-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
verdanai.ttf -microsoft-verdana-medium-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
verdanaz.ttf -microsoft-verdana-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
webdings.ttf -monotype-webdings-medium-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-microsoft-symbol
--
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~smithrod
Author of _Special Edition Using Corel WordPerfect 8 for Linux_, from Que
by