[XeTeX] Newbie Question

[Paul Burkander]

Hi all,

I'm new to the listserv, and to xetex.  I'm pretty well versed with
latex, but I'm having trouble getting going with xetex.

I'm running ubuntu 9.04, and I have xetex through my installation of
texlive.  I downloaded a few sample xetex code examples, to compile on
my computer and get a glimpse at how things work, but I have yet to
successfully compile any of the files.

The stumbling block now, as far as I can tell, is that I don't have
Hoefler fonts, which I gather are on Macs typically.  I considered
getting them, since they look nice, but they're almost $300!

My question broadly is, how best should fonts be managed, i.e.,
acquired, and inventoried.  I don't even know what I have on my
system! Despite having read my latex install documentation.  Is there
a way to find out?  Is it worth buying a set of fonts - if so which
set?

I would greatly appreciate any help on this, or other pointers for
using xetex on Ubuntu.

Thanks all,

Paul