On one PC, I’m running Kubuntu Linux Feisty (haven’t upgraded it to Gutsy yet). It already had the Bitstream Vera (ttf-bitstream-vera) and DejaVu (ttf-dejavu) font packages installed but not the MS fonts that Windows users are familiar with. So, I installed the msttcorefonts package to add Times New Roman, Arial, Trebuchet, etc., to OpenOffice.org.

After installing the new font package, the font drop down list in OpenOffice.org’s toolbar showed all the new fonts. However, when modifying a style, very few fonts appeared in the Font tab. Even the Vera and DejaVu fonts were missing despite the fact that they had already existed in the system prior to my adding the MS fonts.

After much digging online, I found a quick and easy fix on the Ubuntu Forums. Simply run the following on the command line:

sudo fc-cache -fv

I couldn’t find a man page for fc-cache but it essentially refreshes the central font cache so applications can use the fonts.

Bingo! All the fonts suddenly appeared in the OpenOffice.org style editor without even having to restart the editor.