Quoting from the Arch Linux wiki: "The autohinter attempts to do automatic hinting and disregards any existing hinting information. Originally it was the default because TrueType2 fonts were patent-protected but now that these patents have expired there is very little reason to use it. It does work better with fonts that have broken or no hinting information but it will be strongly sub-optimal for fonts with good hinting information. Generally common fonts are of the later kind so autohinter will not be useful. Autohinter is disabled by default."
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/font_configuration#Autohinter If you disagree (ideally with evidence to support your position), please contact the Ubuntu Desktop Team to discuss. For now, I'm closing this bug. ** Changed in: fontconfig (Ubuntu) Status: Triaged => Won't Fix -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to fontconfig in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/191654 Title: Activate font auto hinting by default Status in fontconfig package in Ubuntu: Won't Fix Bug description: Activate autohinting by default on fonts, preferably system wide. It makes a huge difference qua font quality. In hardy alpha4 it's not on by default e.g. More information on http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=4456 To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fontconfig/+bug/191654/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp