Ok, if you run gimp on a redhat system, and you do one of the logo script-fu's you'll no doubt get a warning: can't find font.

bummer.

So, if you do an rpm -qi gimp you'll find that it lists where to get them. the relevant lines being:
Get ftp://ftp.gimp.org/pub/gimp/fonts/freefonts-0.10.tar.gz and ftp://ftp.gimp.org/pub/gimp/fonts/sharefonts-0.10.tar.gz if you are so inclined. Alternatively, choose fonts which exist on your system before running the scripts.

You can ignore the last bit - normal x fonts just aren't as fun. :) Snarf the files and then in /usr/lib/X11/fonts do the following as root:
# tar zxf /path/snarfed/to/freefonts-0.10.tar.gz
# tar zxf sharefonts-0.10.tar.gz

Now, *leave the untarred dirs alone*!!! don't be a moron and delete the fonts.dir files - mkfontdir won't make it again. Not that I'm bitter.

There's a chkfontpath utility on redhat systems, but befriend your friendly neighborhood text editor with a visit to /etc/X11/fs/config. This is the x font server config file for those of you who think the file name is too cryptic. (You're wrong by the way, but I digress) just add the /usr/lib/X11/fonts/freefont and the other one to the file (it's the catalogue section with all the comma delimitted directories, this isn't rocket science).

Still as root you'll need to restart the x font server. on a redhat you would type:
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/xfs restart

Now you're done. But if you want some truetype fonts, read on! (No, I never sold ginsu knives for a living, why do you ask?)

Go download the xfstt-0.9.99-2.i386.rpm package from rcontrib.redhat.com (or a mirror since it's always full). Install it. If you're running x you'll need to do this after starting the xfstt server:
% xset fp+ inet/127.0.0.1:7101
% xset fp rehash
But it should work automatically from then on since it gets added to your XF86Config file.

Toss all your .ttf files into /usr/share/fonts/truetype. Stop and start the server with:
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/xfstt stop
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/xfstt start And then refresh your x server with:
xset fp rehash
And you're golden. Remember, it's free software, version numbers change. You might be able to cut and paste package names out of this, but you might not.