After installing Linux Mint you may have noticed that you're missing several fonts that are included by default in Microsoft Windows, such as Arial, Times New Roman, Impact, and Comic Sans MS. This can cause issues, as some websites may look different on Linux if they need a font that isn't installed in the operating system. Fortunately, it's possible to install some of them thanks to "Core fonts for the Web" that Microsoft started in 1996.
If you would like to use this banner to help spread the word about the fonts, please feel free to do so. This banner should link to http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fontpack/default.htm.
This method may work with other distros, like Ubuntu, but depends on a Debian package.
Warning: this method installs old fonts, as in they're old versions of the of Arial, Times New Roman, etc. That's because Microsoft terminated the project in 2002.
To install the Windows fonts, follow the following steps:
1: open the terminal [how?].
2: type the following command and press Enter:
Warning: although the fonts originally came from Microsoft, Microsoft no longer distributes them, so this isn't an official Microsoft package. According to its copyright notice1, It was created by Eric Sharkey in 2000. That said, they seem to be perfectly legal to install and use2.
sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installerYou'll be prompted for your sudoer password.
The package will start installing, and then a dialog box will appear in the terminal with the EULA that you must agree on.
Warning: just pressing Enter won't close it. This seems to have confused users in the past3.
3: press the right arrow key to select the <OK> choice, then press Enter to activate it.
Another dialog box will appear, this time for agreeing with the license.
4: press the left arrow key to select the <Yes> choice, then press Enter to activate it.
The installation should proceed to the end automatically.
Afterwards, you'll be able to use them. Note that some applications like Inkscape may need to be restarted before they can find the newly installed fonts.
Fonts Included
The fonts that can be installed with this method include:
- Arial.
- Arial Black.
- Andalé Mono.
- Monotype.com.
- Courier New.
- Comic Sans MS.
- Georgia.
- Impact.
- Times New Roman.
- Trebuchet MS.
- Verdana.
- Webdings.
Other Fonts
If there's a Windows font you need that isn't in the list above, I'm sorry but I can't help you.
In particular, Tahoma doesn't seem to be included, even though it's considered a web safe font.
Observations
According to the message in the installer:
These fonts were provided by Microsoft "in the interest of cross-
platform compatibility". This is no longer the case, but they are
still available from third parties.You are free to download these fonts and use them for your own use,
but you may not redistribute them in modified form, including changes
to the file name or packaging format.
The installer seems to download files from [https://corefonts.sourceforge.net/].
You'll notice some files are .exe files, that's because Microsoft put the fonts inside the .exe files, i.e. they used them as a zipped folder.
References
- https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs//contrib/m/msttcorefonts/msttcorefonts_3.8.1_copyright (accessed 2024-09-11) ↩︎
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/35519/the-legality-of-microsoft-fonts (accessed 2024-09-11) ↩︎
- https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?p=2521992 (accessed 2024-09-11) ↩︎
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