Wow the font situation sounds like a big mess!! Thanks for explaining a complicated situation as clearly as you can.
What do you think about using fonts in free software and free culture works under the CC-BY-SA 4.0? Should I go for fonts under certain licenses like GPLv3? And once I use those fonts, is it required by some licenses to provide attribution in my works? What can be done to clean up the mess? On 02/11/2015, Thomas HARDING <[email protected]> wrote: > On 02/11/2015 15:30, Pen-Yuan Hsing wrote: > >> Regarding that, I notice that in almost all cases, software (or any >> other material like documents or posters) don't provide attribution for >> the fonts they used. Is this normal? Or is this a matter of which >> license the font uses? Is there a "proper" way to provide font >> attribution, whether in a web page, document, or software? > > At least, > > I know for "Open Font Licence" a real nightmare to manage on a website, > and I heard of that's worse regarding software. Because of credits and > license are merged and there is a bunch of files. > > The only way has been to give a direct access to the font directory > and a bunch of README files in, also plays a bit with robots.txt, where > bandwith (home-hosting), then next upload "per Mb accounted" was really > critical... > > Also, it has been difficult to figure how simple spins corrections has > been derived versions or not, so leaving the 2 versions at option (size > REALLY matter on hosting)... > > Moreover there is a versioning problem on some fantasy fonts (eg. an > initial i "l with point" "as uppercase" turned next to I "typewriter > style"). > > I fully understand the need to rename derivatives (as for LaTeX packages), > > but fonts misses fair, good, consistent licences which allows > unrepetitive credits and licence display (splitting credits/coyright and > full licence text), > > AND also ensure only minor corrections with except for major releases > WITH NAME CHANGE TOO (because what YOU type really matters as an > artistic job. too). > > IMHO, one of the best gain with Free Software is, regarding any aspect, > having something simple and consistent as licence management compared > to proprietary software. If fonts fails to comply with that, turning > font management a nightmare for developers and users, that's unproductive. > > As the mix they are between art and math/computing, that would be > a great progress to solve that complex problem (marking derivatives, > consistent versioning, "easy" credits "merging", and, splitted licence > full text and notice as what this is done in GNU ones). > > At time, handling all that is turning your mind to a complete mess, > with maybe for excerpt an exclusive use of "computer modern" <g>. > > -- > Je suis née pour partager : non la haine, mais l'amour. > Sophocle, > "Antigone" --- 442 Av. JC. > Two Steps From Heaven: Universal answer is Fortitude. >
