> [...] > > 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
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature