James Bennett wrote:

> On 10/3/05, Felix Miata <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> > Most Linux systems have neither Verdana
> > nor Arial installed, at least not by default.
 
> True, but these days nearly every Linux distribution ships the free
> Bitstream Vera font set, which includes a sans-serif with metrics
> similar to Verdana. Also, the "core web fonts" are typically available
> as an easily-installed package for most distributions, which will
> provide Verdana and other fonts.
 
I've installed a lot of Linux distros, and surprisingly few install Vera
by default, though they usually include them on the installation media.
OTOH, most distros do make migrating Windows fonts, or as you say,
installing mswbfnts, quite easy. So, with that rule what you may get
from those who've migrated from Win9x is what I see on my Linux server
used for most of the screenshots I use for site checks:
http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/SS/lusans.gif. Aaack! This on mine because of
the absence of Verdana, which, with it's oversize h-height, I find
grotesque at sizes large enough to read with comfort.

> I've found that the following works
> well for providing compatibility to Linux users (and as a full-time
> Linux user for a number of years, I can personally attest to its
> effectiveness):
 
> Verdana, "Bitstream Vera Sans", "Lucida Sans", sans-serif
...
> Lea de Groot wrote:

> > What specifically is the Lucida Sans addressing?
 
> Most distributions these days ship the Bitstream Vera fonts, but not
> all. Lucida Sans, however, is about as universal as you can get on
> Linux and gives you one last fall-back to aim at before hitting the
> generic 'sans-serif' family, and has wide enough availability on other
> systems to enable easy testing of how it'll look.

What I hope you meant to suggest was 'Verdana, "Bitstream Vera Sans",
"Luxi Sans", sans-serif'. This is Fedora Core 4, with Vera installed,
but no Windows fonts migrated:
http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/SS/fonts-L-FC4.png
(URW Gothic L is the default setting) from source
http://members.ij.net/mrmazda/auth/Font/fonts-face-samplesL.html

It wouldn't hurt to include 'lucida sans unicode' just to be safe from
the old W9x lucida sans italic, unless you expect normal line-heights,
which you won't get from lucida sans unicode on doze unless you
explicitly set line-height for it.

FWIW, FC4 apparently ships without Helvetica, something I've never
noticed on any Linux before.
-- 
"Be quick to listen, slow to speak."                James 1:19 NIV

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409

Felix Miata  ***  http://members.ij.net/mrmazda/auth/


******************************************************
The discussion list for  http://webstandardsgroup.org/

 See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
 for some hints on posting to the list & getting help
******************************************************

Reply via email to