Tutorial on installing Microsoft TrueType fonts on Ubuntu-based distributions

If you open some Microsoft documents with LibreOffice on Linux, you may notice that the fonts look a little different. You will also notice that some common fonts are missing, such as Times New Roman, Arial, etc.

Don't worry. I will show you how to install these fonts on Ubuntu and other Ubuntu-based Linux distributions. But before that, let me tell you why these fonts are not installed by default.

Why aren't Microsoft fonts installed by default in Linux?

Times New Roman, Arial and other fonts are from Microsoft, and these fonts are not open source. Many Linux distributions do not provide proprietary software by default to avoid licensing issues.

That's why Ubuntu and other Linux distributions use the open source "Liberation" fonts instead of Microsoft fonts by default. Red Hat created the Liberation font as a replacement for Arial, Arial Narrow, Times New Roman, and Courier New because these fonts have the same width. When you open a document written in Times New Roman font, the corresponding Liberation font will be used to keep the document intact.

However, the Liberation fonts are not identical to Microsoft's fonts, and in some cases you may need to use Arial or Times New Roman. It is a very common situation that in schools, universities and other public or private institutions, Microsoft fonts are the only option. They require you to submit your document using one of these fonts.

Fortunately, you can easily install Microsoft fonts on Ubuntu and other distributions. In this way, you will enhance the compatibility of LibreOffice and have the freedom to choose open source office software.

Installing Microsoft fonts on Ubuntu based Linux distributions

You can download fonts yourself and install new fonts in Ubuntu. But because Microsoft fonts are so popular (and available for free), Ubuntu provides an easy way to install them.

You should know that although Microsoft has released its core fonts for free, the use of this font in other operating systems is still restricted. Before installing Microsoft fonts in Ubuntu, you must read and accept the EULA (End User License Agreement).

These fonts are available in the multiverse repository, first make sure it is enabled:

sudo add-apt-repository multiverse

After this, you can update your Ubuntu repository cache and install the Microsoft fonts like this:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installer

When the Microsoft End User Agreement appears, press the Tab key to select "OK" and press Enter.

Click "Yes" to accept Microsoft's agreement:

Once the installation is complete, you should update the font cache using the following command:

sudo fc-cache -f -v

If you open LibreOffice now, you will see the Microsoft TrueType fonts.

If you accidentally declined the license agreement, you can reinstall the installer with this command:

sudo apt install –reinstall ttf-mscorefonts-installer

Microsoft's TrueType fonts are also available through the Ubuntu Restricted Extras package, which contains other proprietary multimedia codecs for playing MP3 files, etc.

Don't underestimate proprietary fonts.

You might think what’s the big deal about fonts? After all, it’s just a font, not a key part of the software, right? But did you know that Netflix has paid millions of dollars over the years for the proprietary fonts it uses? In the end, they created their own custom font, which saved them a ton of money.

Summarize

This is the end of this tutorial on how to install Microsoft TrueType fonts on Ubuntu-based distributions. For more information about Microsoft TrueType fonts on Ubuntu distributions, please search for previous articles on 123WORDPRESS.COM or continue to browse the related articles below. I hope everyone will support 123WORDPRESS.COM in the future!