HOWTO: fix fonts in Debian Lenny/Sid

UPDATE: also, before you try this, make sure you have some good fonts installed, after a fresh install of Lenny at work, I needed to run this first: apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer msttcorefonts

After a…slight slip up, I finally had the chance to install Linux from scratch on my laptop (Dell Vostro 1500) the way I’ve always wanted it with Debian GNU/Linux – Lenny and partitioned with LVM (Linux Volume Management).  After that I set out to get the desktop fonts to look as good in Debian as they did (by default) in Ubuntu.  After much scouring around online I found a pretty easy tweak that got me most of the way. As root:

dpkg-reconfigure fontconfig-config

In the dialog choose these options; Autohinter, Automatic and No. Now issue this command:

dpkg-reconfigure fontconfig

Logout and log back into your desktop and your fonts should be *noticeably* nicer looking. Of course after that you have to drive yourself crazy tweaking the settings for autohinting and RGB lines, installing any and all ttf-* fonts apt-get sees, but hey, that’s what choice is all about!