Font problem in LibreOffice or in Ubuntu Linux?

LibreOffice Writer 4.2.7.2 (English. I write in Swedish); Ubuntu Linux updated from 12.04 to 14.04;

In September 2014 I posted this question to askubuntu.com but after five months I have seen no reaction to it:


I am writing a book using LibreOffice. Until recently I used Ubuntu 12.04 and LibreOffice 3.5.7.2. The body text of the book is typeset with FreeSerif 11pt. Before my upgrade to Ubuntu 14.04 and LibreOffice 4.2.6.3 (which came with 14.04), the book had 210 pages. After the upgrade the book has 195 pages, because the FreeSerif font now was more condensed.

When I open the odt file in a different computer with Ubuntu Desktop 12.04 and LibreOffice 3.5.7.2, the book has 210 pages, and so it has when I open the same file in a computer with Windows 7 and LibreOffice 4.2.6.3 the book has 210 pages. (Of course the Free* fonts are installed in all computers.)

So with 14.04 and 4.2.6.3 the FreeSerif font is rendered differently. The difference is big, about 7%, which makes the text look ugly, and the line breaks and the hyphenation have been changed, not to say ruined.

Obviously, there is something wrong with the rendering of the FreeSerif font in the combination of Ubuntu Desktop 14.04 and LibreOffice 4.2.6.3. Will this error be corrected?


Maybe the problem is not a pure Ubuntu problem but a problem in the combination of LibreOffice Writer and Ubuntu?
So my first question is which party I should apply to for a solution to the font rendering problem.

Roger H

From my point of view it is not yet clear in which system (Ubuntu OS or LibO 4.2.6.3) the problem is. It might even be laying in the Font FreeSerrif 11pt.

I would do the following:

  • Make a safety copy!
  • Replace the FreeSerif 11pt by a similar font on all machines to see if the difference is caused by the font
  • Download the LibO Portable version 3.5.7.2 and 4.3.5 and make tests on the windows machine
  • Make test printouts of at least 1 full page, max 2 pages, at all machines, OS and LibO versions you have

Based on the results I would try to judge where a bug needs to fixed.