The opensource BitStream Vera fonts which together with FreeType make it possible to actually do something with a decent font portably without license hosing.
The DejaVu fonts are a font family based on the Bitstream Vera Fonts. Its purpose is to provide a wider range of characters while maintaining the original look and feel.
FontForge allows you to edit outline and bitmap fonts. You may create new ones or modify old ones. It is also a format converter and can interconvert between PostScript (ascii & binary Type1, some Type3, some Type0), TrueType, OpenType (Type2), CID, SVG