Have to say that Consolas is the best monospaced font (that supports a large swath of Unicode) for my terminal emulator. I've always taken a rather dim view of non-functional niceties but have been swayed by just how damn nice the terminal looks while programming in Vim using Consolas. Well worth the purchase so that I could use it on Linux.

If you want a free clone then Inconsolata is pretty good (and open source, hence improvable): http://www.levien.com/type/myfonts/inconsolata.html

To my eye, only the name looks similar.

Agreed. Unfortunately I can't say the same about Frutiger ripoff Segoe UI. I got tired so quickly of that font, and I barely even use Windows 8. You still see it all the time on other Microsoft branded stuff though, and all I can think is 'meh'.

A neutral font like Helvetica is a much better choice IMO.

Ironically they are both in the same neutral family. https://www.dropbox.com/s/peqvvtw50ko6kbv/Screenshot%202013-...

That's probably also the reason why you think that it is meh.

I think his 'meh' was directed toward Segoe UI, not Frutiger.

Segoe UI is extremely similar to Frutiger Next, which is an expanded and slightly reworked Frutiger. That's what the whole fuss was about -- Microsoft not paying for a Frutiger Next license.

Yes, I was shocked how bad it looks, considering Microsoft has some really good font designers.

My gnome-terminal seems to be using Source Code Pro from https://github.com/adobe/Source-Code-Pro at Semibold weight and 12 points, though I basically just fullscreen it and frequently resize up and down depending on requirements. In reality I probably mostly I use it at 14 or 16 points, on a black background of course.

compiz-fusion spins between desktop cube faces with ctrl+alt+arrow and a handy wacom tablet allow easy text selection, window placement and inkscape-driven thought-capture.

I'm very interested in striking a balance between a minimalist console and graphical thinking, and have become a big fan of tools like mscgen, graphviz, and inkscape.

Every time I use inkscape, default font selections irritate me to the point where I now generally the more tedious option of manually scribbling on the wacom tablet.

I like Constantia, by John Hudson. It has become my go-to font for screen reading, since it manages an almost-oldstyle feel without falling apart at current resolutions. MS did commission some good work for the C-series.

There's also Candara and Constantina.

I think they did a bang up job with them, especially Cambria (If I never saw Times again I'd be happy).