One of the most annoying sets of problems I have had to deal with is the abysmal default fonts and font settings of X (I'm talking specifically about XFree86, other versions of X may be better.) Many programs use fixed width default fonts when a variable width font would be more appropriate. Other programs use fonts that are ridiculously tiny and unreadable. The fonts that are bundled with XFree86 are barely adequate for the job. It does come with a halfway decent courier font, but its Times and Helvetica fonts are simple bitmap fonts that pixelize when they are scaled. Yuck!
This HOWTO attempts to show how to adjust various font settings, install new fonts, and do other things that will greatly improve the appearance and readability of fonts on the X Window Desktop. This is done by adjusting the FontPath in the XF86Config file, by adding switches to X server command line in startx or xdm, by adding new fonts, by installing the TrueType font server xfstt, and by using a feature in the K Desktop Environment 1.1 that automagically adjusts font settings in many applications, including non-KDE apps to set their fonts and colors to match KDE's style settings.
Comments, corrections, additions and critiques are always welcome. You can reach me at meldroc@frii.com.