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How sure can you be that the font you specify will be present on the end user's machine? This is the latest snapshot of the of the Code Style Unix font survey and should give you greater confidence in selecting a font.

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The most common Linux fonts

The most common fonts reported for Unix family systems are DejaVu Sans Mono at 92% frequency, Matthew Carter's serif Bitstream Charter for X Windows at 90% frequency. These are followed by the cursive font URW Chancery L and monospace font Nimbus Mono L. The serif font Century Schoolbook L completes the 5 most common Linux fonts at 89% frequency.

Font survey statistics

These figures are the cumulative total of about 1 Linux survey submission per week since January 2004, 370 total. The average number of fonts reported per submission is 22 of the 57 included in the Unix font family survey sample.

Most common fonts on Unix family systems to 8 November 2008
Font name Installed (%) Sample Image
DejaVu Sans Mono 92.00% 92.00% Sample  
Bitstream Charter 90.00% 90.00% Sample  
URW Chancery L 89.46% 89.46% Sample Image
Nimbus Mono L 89.19% 89.19% Sample Image
Century Schoolbook L 88.65% 88.65% Sample Image
URW Gothic L 87.30% 87.30% Sample Image
URW Bookman L 83.78% 83.78% Sample Image
Nimbus Sans L 83.33% 83.33% Sample  
URW Palladio L 82.70% 82.70% Sample Image
Bitstream Vera Sans Mono 81.25% 81.25% Sample Image
DejaVu Sans 80.00% 80.00% Sample  
DejaVu Sans Condensed 80.00% 80.00% Sample  
Bitstream Vera Sans 79.08% 79.08% Sample Image
DejaVu Serif Condensed 78.00% 78.00% Sample  
Nimbus Roman No9 L 77.84% 77.84% Sample  
Courier 74.32% 74.32% Sample Image
Bitstream Vera Serif 68.75% 68.75% Sample Image
Arial 63.24% 63.24% Sample Image
Courier New 62.43% 62.43% Sample  
DejaVu Serif 61.67% 61.67% Sample  
FreeMono 61.67% 61.67% Sample  
FreeSerif 61.67% 61.67% Sample  
Utopia 60.54% 60.54% Sample Image
FreeSans 58.33% 58.33% Sample  
Helvetica 58.11% 58.11% Sample Image
Times New Roman 57.30% 57.30% Sample  
Verdana 55.14% 55.14% Sample  
Arial Black 54.32% 54.32% Sample  
Impact 53.78% 53.78% Sample  
Georgia 53.24% 53.24% Sample  
Liberation Mono 52.00% 52.00% Sample  
Liberation Sans 52.00% 52.00% Sample  
Liberation Serif 52.00% 52.00% Sample  
Comic Sans MS 51.89% 51.89% Sample  
Trebuchet MS 51.35% 51.35% Sample  
Andale Mono 50.27% 50.27% Sample  
Fixed 50.27% 50.27% Sample Image
Times 49.46% 49.46% Sample  
New Century Schoolbook 47.57% 47.57% Sample  
MgOpen Canonica 46.00% 46.00% Sample  
MgOpen Cosmetica 46.00% 46.00% Sample  
MgOpen Modata 46.00% 46.00% Sample  
MgOpen Moderna 46.00% 46.00% Sample  
Nimbus Sans L Condensed 40.00% 40.00% Sample  
Luxi Mono 38.26% 38.26% Sample Image
Luxi Sans 38.26% 38.26% Sample Image
DejaVu Sans Extra Light 38.00% 38.00% Sample  
Luxi Serif 36.24% 36.24% Sample Image
Lucida 36.22% 36.22% Sample Image
Terminal 33.78% 33.78% Sample  
Charter 33.24% 33.24% Sample  
Lucida Typewriter 32.00% 32.00% Sample  
LucidaBright 32.00% 32.00% Sample  
ClearlyU 31.35% 31.35% Sample  
Vera Sans 16.00% 16.00% Sample  
Vera Sans Mono 16.00% 16.00% Sample  
Vera Serif 16.00% 16.00% Sample  
Lucida Sans 2.00% 2.00% Sample  

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