The GNOME Desktop uses the fontconfig font configuration and customization library. The fontconfig library can use all kinds of fonts, including PostScript Type 1 fonts and TrueType* fonts. The fontconfig library provides a list of all the fonts available on a GNOME Desktop system. To compile this list, fontconfig searches the directories listed in the /etc/opt/gnome/fonts/fonts.conf file. To view all the fonts available on a system, access the fonts:/// location in the file manager on the system.
For more information about the fontconfig library, see the Fontconfig Web site.
The fontconfig library performs font substitution when entire fonts or individual characters are not present. If the system needs to display a font that is not available, fontconfig attempts to display another, similar font. For example, if a Web page requests to display the Verdana font, and that font is not installed on the system, fontconfig displays a similar font, such as Helvetica. The list of similar fonts is defined in the /etc/opt/gnome/fonts/fonts.conf file.
If the system needs to display a character that is not present in the selected font, fontconfig attempts to display the character in another, similar font. For example, you might select Bitstream Vera Sans as the font for the Text Editor application. The Bitstream Vera font family does not include Cyrillic characters. If you open a document which contains a Cyrillic character, Text Editor uses a similar font that includes Cyrillic characters to display the character.
The fontconfig library also defines aliases for fonts (for example, serif, sans-serif, and monospace). When you select one of the aliases for a font, the system uses the first font that is defined for that alias in the /etc/opt/gnome/fonts/fonts.conf.
Copy the font file to one of the directories in the /etc/opt/gnome/fonts/fonts.conf file.
Typically, fonts are stored in the /opt/gnome/share/fonts/ directory.
(Conditional) The fontconfig library updates the list of fonts automatically. If the list of fonts is not updated, run the following command:
fc-cache directory-name
Copy the font file to the $HOME/.fonts directory of the user.
If you drag the font file to the fonts:/// location in the file manager, the font file is copied to the $HOME/.fonts directory.
(Conditional) The fontconfig library updates the list of fonts automatically. If the list of fonts is not updated, run the following command:
fc-cache directory-name