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Re: Debian logos and trademarks



> [...]
> 
> BTW, what happened to the non-free font concerns that were expressed by
> Branden Robinson in the above-mentioned wiki page?

Maybe what the GNOME foundation has done to use an open font for their
logo can provide some inspiration to the Debian project for a solution
to this long-running problem?

Here's what happened for GNOME:

It took a few months but they realized they were using a restricted font
copyrighted by a large corporation (this particular one not exactly
famous for its support of free software) and they made a decision to
move away from this non-modifiable/non-redistributable font to an open font.

First the issue surfaced on the marketing list and GNOME developers
encourage a move to an open font:
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/marketing-list/2005-August/msg00056.html
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/marketing-list/2005-August/msg00061.html
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/marketing-list/2005-August/msg00062.html

When GUADEC artwork was being prepared, GNOME developer Davyd Madeley
replied that Vera (an open font released by Bitstream) is the official
font:
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/guadec-list/2006-February/msg00237.html

A designer (Máirín Duffy) then tackled the problem and made design
proposals:
http://mihmo.livejournal.com/29136.html

More discussion on the subject happened at the GUADEC in Vilanona (2006
edition) and via mail and IRC after that.

A bit later on, Máirín's designs was pointed out in a marketing-list thread:
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/marketing-list/2006-August/msg00132.html

Finally the GNOME board applied for trademark of the logo based on the
outlines from the new open font:
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-announce/2006-September/msg00000.html

This is the current result:
http://live.gnome.org/BrandGuidelines


AFAICT the Debian logo currently uses Friedrich Poppl's Laudatio
Condensed (non-free):
http://www.identifont.com/show?13E
http://www.bertholdtypes.com/bq_library/90090.html

I suggest discussing the opportunity of basing the text in the Debian
logo on an existing open font. Or calling on designers to create a new
Debian-specific font from scratch and then release it under a good license.


--
Nicolas Spalinger
pkg-fonts Alioth project




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