[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Upcoming bug mass-filing re. non-free TrueType fonts in main



Hi,

I have just completed a review of packages in main containing .ttf
fonts.  This review will shortly lead to bug filings against each
package, but first, in accordance with developers-reference 7.1.1
I am posting my findings here for discussion.

The initial list was produced with 'apt-file search '\.ttf' to locate binary
packages with TrueType fonts in them.  I then eliminated packages containing
only fonts, as I am hoping that the maintainers have already done the
necessary checking of licenses for the fonts they have packaged.[1] (If you
maintain a font package and are not confident that you have thoroughly
checked the licenses of all fonts contained within them, please do so.)

>From this list, I then took a sampling of fonts contained within the
source packages and ran 'strings' on them to look for copyright notices. 
I also looked at readme documents contained in the font directories, if
present.  As soon as I located one or two fonts that were verifiably
non-free, I moved on to the next package.  Thus, the annotated list below is
*not* a comprehensive listing of all non-free fonts in these packages.
There may be other non-free fonts contained in them, but I simply didn't
have the time to check every single font.

I focused on known non-free fonts and for the time being have ignored
fonts merely listed as 'freeware' with unknown licenses.  I was not
certain about whether the license for these 'freeware' fonts was
included elsewhere in the package -- but a font just marked 'freeware'
with no license attached is non-free as well.  There are a handful of
these, included at the end.  I will not be filing bugs against these
at this time.

Finally, it has been suggested that I file bugs against linda and lintian to
put some checks into place to scan fonts for known non-free licenses to
prevent this sort of mishap in future.

So now, the list of packages in violation of non-free font licenses:

icewm-themes
- contains 'chicago' (Apple)

caudium
- contains 'verdana' (Microsoft)

pygame
- contains 'bluebold' (Larabie)[0]

roxen2
- contains 'quadrang' (Larabie)[0]

enlightenment
- contains 'aircut3' and 'rothwell' (Larabie)[0]

epplets
- contains 'aircut3' (Larabie)[0]

feh
- contains 'helmetr' (Sun)[1]

gozer
- contains 'helmetr' (Sun)[1]

hatman
- contains 'casual' -- name is 'Frankenstein' in font file itself (Corel)

mangoquest
- contains 'tahomabd' (Microsoft)

phluid
- contains 'nationff' (White)[2]

tuxpaint[3]
- contains 'chicago' (Apple)

xplanet
- contains 'helmetr' (Sun)[1]


Here are packages containing ttf files marked 'freeware', a meaningless
term[4].  I have not yet determined if the licenses these are under are
DFSG-compatible, as it is not immediately apparent that they even have
licenses included (and as noted above, a licenseless font is non-free).

evas
- contains 'andover', 'cinema', etc.

libphp-phplot
- contains 'benjamingothic'


Finally, this package contains an original font contributed to the
project and licensed under the GPL (how refreshing!)

yudit
- contains 'yudit' an original, DFSG-free font


Footnotes:

[0] Larabie fonts are 'freeware' with non-free license and have been
    made into non-free packages

[1] I have been told that the OpenOffice fonts are not free and were
    pulled from CVS a short while ago.  This puts ttf-openoffice
    into question and any other package that contains a font included
    in ttf-openoffice.  I need confirmation of this before I can file
    bugs.

[2] The copyright notice in this font is:
    Freeware - Copyright [c] - Roger White - 1994 - All Rights Reserved.

[3] This is my own package, and is the one that prompted me to start
    this search, as I had discovered it contained Apple's 'Chicago'
    font.  I then started looking for a suitable replacement font
    under a DFSG-free license.  I was disappointed to find that
    virtually every so-called 'free' font I found failed the DFSG.

[4] http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html#freeware


Ben
-- 
    nSLUG       http://www.nslug.ns.ca      synrg@sanctuary.nslug.ns.ca
    Debian      http://www.debian.org       synrg@debian.org
[ pgp key fingerprint = 7F DA 09 4B BA 2C 0D E0  1B B1 31 ED C6 A9 39 4F ]
[ gpg key fingerprint = 395C F3A4 35D3 D247 1387  2D9E 5A94 F3CA 0B27 13C8 ]



Reply to: