2. it's not the fonts. check this out: http://ubuntutips.net/node/10.
in a nutshell, just put <match target="font"> <edit name="hintstyle"> <const>hintslight</const> </edit> <edit name="autohint"> <bool>true</bool></edit> <edit name="rgba"> <const>rgb</const></edit> <edit mode="assign" name="hinting"> <bool>true</bool> </edit> <edit mode="assign" name="antialias"> <bool>true</bool> </edit> </match>
in your ~/.fonts.conf file.
you won't believe your eyes. try it. :)