The recent Google Earth 6.2 release brought better imagery, Google+ integration and a set of super search enhancements.
Sadly, one thing wasn’t fixed: the infamous ugly font rendering when running the app on Linux.
Never fear, OMG! is here — with a fix!
Fixing Google Earth’s Font Rendering
Google Earth is available for Ubuntu, with the search giant offering both 32-bit and 64-bit Deb installers to make life easier. Whilst both builds of Google Earth 6.2 works well under Ubuntu, the same can’t be said for the way things look out-of-the-box: –
Fixing this stretched out typography is (thankfully) simple. Install two additional packages (from the Ubuntu repos) and, et voila, all sorted.
The two packages are:
- lsb-core – Described as a ‘core system’ that 3rd-party apps can depend upon
- ttf-mstcorefonts-installer – Set of fonts (Arial, Verdana, etc) owned by Microsoft
You can install both packages from the Ubuntu Software Center (in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and above).
Search for them by name and click the install button beside them.
Alternatively, to do it a bit faster, open a Terminal and run this command:
- sudo apt install lsb-core rtf-mscorefonts-installer
Once installed, open Google Earth 6.2.
You’ll quickly notice the difference; an interface whose labels, buttons and tooltips are readable, if far from perfect (antialiasing).
Want to go further? Read our guide on ‘How to Make Google Earth Look Native in Ubuntu‘