Bug#1135180: Bug#902981: DFSG status of fonts-font-awesome (was: Re: Bug#902981: new upstream (5.1.0))

> On May 19, 2026, at 12:44=E2=80=AFAM, Julian Gilbey <[email protected]> =
wrote:
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> Hey Rob,
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> Thank you *so* much for this information.  That's really helpful.
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> I don't know where that puts us now.  Can we say that FontAwesome of
> any version is DFSG-free, given that the original sources are not
> available for any version of the font?  How do we move forward?
> debian-legal - your input here would be most welcome.  And Rob - if
> you are able to give any advice here, that would also be welcome. =20

Hey Julian,

I don=E2=80=99t have any silver bullets. But I=E2=80=99m here to answer =
questions and see if we can figure something out. I=E2=80=99d hate to =
have Font Awesome removed just because you all didn=E2=80=99t have the =
complete picture.

I understand the legal tension here but we use Debian all over the place =
at FA. If I can assist in finding a solution it=E2=80=99s a small way =
for us to say thank you.

I do think the hinge is on legal here. I can=E2=80=99t make the build =
system or the source files available because we are a for-profit =
commercial company. If that=E2=80=99s a deal-breaker I respect that. But =
I do wonder if there=E2=80=99s some middle ground or exception? If it =
can=E2=80=99t have minified files I can produce an artifact that =
doesn=E2=80=99t contain this. If there has to be an uncompressed OTF =
part of the package I can do that. I=E2=80=99m willing to work within =
some requirements and even take some ownership of the package =
maintenance.

Let me ask this: are there any other products like FA where there is a =
commercial entity and where the =E2=80=9Csource code=E2=80=9D (I=E2=80=99m=
 using this term loosely) is available for a free version of it? Has =
Debian solved this for another org and we can use prior art?=20

> We
> *do* want to keep FontAwesome around - it is so amazing (awesome?!)
> and so ubiquitous!

Yes, I really don=E2=80=99t want users of Debian or FA to suffer here. =
That=E2=80=99s what compelled me to speak up on this VERY old bug. :)

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> Best wishes,
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>   Julian