Installing Microsoft fonts in Ubuntu

I recently discovered that you can install some of Microsoft's Core Fonts like Arial, Georgia, Verdana just to name a few. Why? Well before we answer that question here is a little background on MS Core fonts quoted from Wikipedia.

"Core fonts for the Web was a project begun by Microsoft in 1996 to make a standard pack of fonts for the Internet. The project was terminated in August 2002, allegedly due to frequent EULA violations. However, that same EULA allows redistribution if the packages are kept in their original format and filenames and not used to add value to commercial products. As a result, they are still available for download on third-party websites."

"For Windows, the fonts are provided as standard executables, however they each include an embedded cabinet file, which can be extracted with appropriate software. This allows the fonts to be used on non-Windows operating systems, so long as they are distributed in original form. For the Macintosh, the files are provided as BinHexed Stuff-It archives."

So back to why, well we may want a Word document that you open in OpenOffice to look the way it was intended too. Also many of todays style sheets in web pages use these core fonts, so your web experience will be better and webpages will look as they were designed to be.

Installing Microsoft Truetype fonts on Ubuntu
$sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_fonts_for_the_Web