Did you restart octave after you instaleed the font?
If you print it to svg file, which font do you get in there?
Yes - in fact, I actually first installed the font some months ago, and just hadn't gotten around to addressing this issue.
The font is the same when printed to an SVG with print. In fact, it displays with the unusual font in the plot window, in addition to the saved figures.
The most mysterious part is that a non-default font is being used at all. I have no idea what font is actually being used.