I'm running DSL Linux on an old tower. I've installed the Java Runtime Environment from Sun version 1.3.1 from a self-extracting binary. I'm using an archived version of the runtime because the hardware is nearly ten years old and the more recent JRE's did not install properly.

When I attempt to run a small java application I see the following appear in the shell and then the application dies. The java application is not attempting to use a specific font, only the defaults.

I understand that the message is referring to the font.properties file inside the lib directory of the JRE.
And I've discovered that the fonts folder for the linux OS is located at /usr/shared/fonts.

If anyone could help interpret the message and offer any suggestions I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

ETA --
I found this page
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/install-linux-sdk.html

And discovered that I am to replace the font.properties file with a file obtained here...
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/font.properties

So I did that and now the error message is slightly different, referring to a different font...

It's probably looking for the Lucida fonts that ship with Java. You should find them in the java directory. Move the .ttf files to /usr/share/fonts/SomeDirectory/

You may also need to generate an update to your fonts cache system. I can't remember the "right" way to do that. I usually find it easiest to install (apt) some .ttf font that I don't have, and that takes care of it automatically.