These instructions are written for the Debian Woody distribution of Linux, but you should be able to apply them to other distribution without too much effort.

STEP 1: Install the true type font packages.

Using dselect, or your favorite Debian package tool, install the following packages:

• libttf2
• msttcorefont
• freefont
• x-ttcidfont-conf

STEP 2: Restart X

STEP 3: Check Mozilla for TrueType Support

Set an environment variable called NS_FONT_DEBUG to 400.

export NS_FONT_DEBUG=400

Now, run Mozilla. If it says "freetype not compiled in" then you are out of luck. You have to get a copy of Mozilla that has TrueType support. The newer versions of Mozilla should work.

STEP 4: Edit Mozilla Configuration Files

Become root. Now edit the /usr/local/mozilla/defaults/pref/unix.js file.

Change this:

// TrueType
pref("font.FreeType2.enable", false);
pref("font.freetype2.shared-library", "libfreetype.so.6");
// if libfreetype was built without hinting compiled in
// it is best to leave hinting off
pref("font.FreeType2.autohinted", false);
pref("font.FreeType2.unhinted", true);
// below a certian pixel size anti-aliased fonts produce poor results
pref("font.antialias.min",        10);
pref("font.embedded_bitmaps.max", 1000000);
pref("font.scale.tt_bitmap.dark_text.min", 64);
pref("font.scale.tt_bitmap.dark_text.gain", "0.8");
// sample prefs for TrueType font dirs
//pref("font.directory.truetype.1", "/u/sam/tt_font");
//pref("font.directory.truetype.2", "/u/sam/tt_font2");
//pref("font.directory.truetype.3", "/u/sam/tt_font3");

// TrueType
pref("font.FreeType2.enable", true);
pref("font.freetype2.shared-library", "libfreetype.so.6");
// if libfreetype was built without hinting compiled in
// it is best to leave hinting off
pref("font.FreeType2.autohinted", false);
pref("font.FreeType2.unhinted", false);
// below a certian pixel size anti-aliased fonts produce poor results
pref("font.antialias.min",        10);
pref("font.embedded_bitmaps.max", 1000000);
pref("font.scale.tt_bitmap.dark_text.min", 64);
pref("font.scale.tt_bitmap.dark_text.gain", "0.2");
// sample prefs for TrueType font dirs
pref("font.directory.truetype.1", "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/truetype");
pref("font.directory.truetype.2", "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TrueType");
//more font dirs go here

STEP 5: Restart Mozilla

STEP 6: Change Mozilla Font Settings

In Mozilla, edit the Appearance->Fonts preferences. True type fonts start with a capital letter.