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Liberation Fonts Increase Interoperability For Linux Users
hweimer writes "Most problems when opening Word documents under GNU/Linux are due to missing fonts. Therefore, Red Hat published a set of fonts metric-compatible with the Windows core fonts last year. However, there were some concerns regarding the licensing that prevented many other distros to ship them. We finally managed to settle these problems, leading to better document interoperability for all GNU/Linux users."
..French fonts!
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Most problems with opening Word documents are that they were created with Word.
Sounds like a open-source typography terrorist organisation.
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
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If I already have corefonts installed, do I need or want these?
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
What is really needed to help Linux stand out is a set of F/LOSS-licensed fonts that are of even better quality than the default MS stuff--I mean it's essential to be able to show Times New Roman correctly, but what would make Linux (and other free operating systems) stand out is a selection of superb fonts.
Look to Firefox for an example--people didn't choose it (solely) because it was free; they chose it because it works better (for them). I suspect at least some users could be swayed by better default fonts.
Q: Excuse me, is this the People's Liberation Font?
A: Fuck off! We're the People's Font of Judea!
Well you are, OK, that was funny.
But it's also serious.
GOD DAMN the Word document structure sucks like something that sucks a lot.
I don't know about you, but I'd like to have a system that's 100% Verdana-free.
100% Arial-free, too. Yes, I can tell the difference between Arial and Helvetica, and Arial just looks garish.
Besides, Luxi fonts are cooler than any of the Windows core fonts :P
I support the Center for Consumer Freedom
Personal Liberation Fonts
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed H
Who cares about this Windows compatibility anyways? Especially when you have the Got Heroin? font. I seem to have a habit of using this font all the time.
Like Arial is rather similar to Helvetica. Some people claim that Microsoft did this to avoid paying royalties, see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arial#Criticism.2FSimilar_fonts.
Now this may be true or not, but after they almost copied Helvetica with Arial, turnabout's fair play.
C - the footgun of programming languages
Does Word have a greater Gross National Productivity Cost than Excel? It seems like they are about the same, except Excel might be worse since it is more likely to cause collateral damage (bad business decisions because the numbers were crunched wrong).
But there is software that has an even higher GNPC than either of these two: PowerPoint.
MS Office: the corporate equivalent of multiple sclerosis. Gets your business into the wheelchair races real quick.
Why did they include a mono family? What's wrong with IBM Courier, which has been included with every distribution of X11 since X11R5?
A few years back, there was a competition to award the most significant Israeli FOSS developers (or something like that) and who who came in first place in the voting? A font designer who had designed (or perhaps cloned?) high-quality Hebrew fonts with open-source licenses.
Everyone in GNULand will just use their package manager and install them. Free. Then they can add on their word processor of choice and use them as they see fit. By not allowing them into for profit projects they prevent the misappropriation of the fonts and it is a non-issue when the Free distros can just throw it on their repositories.
Terminus fonts (xfonts-terminus on ubuntu) looks good on LCD.
I've switched to that after using lucidasanstypewriter for about 12 yrs.
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Most distributions adopted the Liberation fonts more than a year ago. At least Fedora and Mandriva did.
This really shouldn't be news, as the Debian license-police usually delay introduction of anything new with unnecessary (see links in article) license haggling.
As far as I can see, the exception on the liberation fonts makes the "software" more free, whereas the Tex csplain additional restriction makes the software less free (one of the freedoms is lost).
The GPL incompatibility is also moot, since no other software will be derived works (taking into account the first exception, stating that embedding of the fonts in a document does not constitute a derived work).
So, no, other distributions need not follow, Debian is playing catch-up.
Wow, those are some ugly fonts.
Aren't there free high-quality versions of Helvetica, Times and Courier available already?
The Liberation fonts might make it possible to read things, but they're certainly not going to make it possible to make good looking documents or web pages. Unless, of course, the Windows versions are just extra ugly to punish me for having to use XP at work...
- chrish
How is this better than any of the other similar fonts out there such as Linux Libertine or Bitstream Vera?
Both of thses font groups are similar, serve the same purpose and have been around much longer.
I've used all three and see very little difference.
What Linux really needs are some good fonts that don't mimic the standard Windows fonts. There are lots of very nice fonts that come with Microsoft Office, few of which have decent equivalents in Linux (excluding proprietary fonts you can buy from a number of foundries).
BTW, in another few years when most Windows users are running Vista (or later) Linux will need to catch up again. For example, Calibri is a great font and is the default in Word 2007.
Scott
©20014 angrykeyboarder & Elmer Fudd. All Wights Wesewved
old fashioned, but it's hella readable. That what really counts.
This thread on Debian-Legal seems to suggest that Debian does not think the licensing issue has been resolved.
And this thread on Debian-Legal which the Liberation Fonts page itself links to, also has Francesco Poli describing very clearly that he thinks Debian doesn't have the right to redistribute the fonts with the current license.
So.. where are the messages showing the Debian people actually accepting the licensing terms and deciding to add the font package to Debian?
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