Bug#1135180: Bug#902981: Bug#1135180: Bug#902981: DFSG status of fonts-font-awesome

Rob Madole <[email protected]> Tue, 26 May 2026 12:45:36 -0500
Newsgroups gmane.linux.debian.devel.bugs.general,gmane.linux.debian.devel.legal,gmane.linux.debian.devel.fonts
Message-ID <[email protected]>
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> On May 25, 2026, at 6:27=E2=80=AFAM, Julian Gilbey =
<[email protected]> wrote:
>=20
> What if, for example,
> FortAwesome keeps their fonts in a database, with each record being an
> icon in some format and its associated metadata?  (Rob: I'm not
> fishing for information!  The details seem to be irrelevant here.)

=3D) I=E2=80=99m happy to engage in some fishing. The details may not be =
relevant but if they are I can help. I think it moved the conversation =
along the last time I spoke up.

I don=E2=80=99t mind sharing the details.

Preferred form: is actually Figma. Our designers have an entire system =
developed to manage them there. Figma is the source of truth. When we =
need to update an icon we have to go there to do it.

We export icons in SVG format that we then import into an internal web =
app behind our VPN. The tools we=E2=80=99ve used to verify SVG data, =
resize, convert, are all developed in-house. Even the thing that creates =
web font files is written in-house. (We no longer use FontForge).

We then store the raw SVG path data in a relational database.

This is probably obvious but this is all very un-friendly to what I=E2=80=99=
m learning about how DFSG works. We can=E2=80=99t share these internal =
tools because our company considers them a proprietary, competitive =
advantage.=

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<html aria-label=3D"message body"><head><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type" =
content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body =
style=3D"overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; =
line-break: after-white-space;"><br =
id=3D"lineBreakAtBeginningOfMessage"><div><br><blockquote =
type=3D"cite"><div>On May 25, 2026, at 6:27=E2=80=AFAM, Julian Gilbey =
&lt;[email protected]&gt; wrote:</div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><div><meta charset=3D"UTF-8"><span =
style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: =
12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; =
letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; =
display: inline !important;">What if, for example,</span><br =
style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: =
12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; =
letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; =
text-decoration-thickness: auto; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span =
style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: =
12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; =
letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; =
display: inline !important;">FortAwesome keeps their fonts in a =
database, with each record being an</span><br style=3D"caret-color: =
rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: =
normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: =
normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: =
none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; =
text-decoration-thickness: auto; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span =
style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: =
12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; =
letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; =
display: inline !important;">icon in some format and its associated =
metadata? &nbsp;(Rob: I'm not</span><br style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, =
0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; =
font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; =
orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; =
white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; =
text-decoration-thickness: auto; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span =
style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: =
12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; =
letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; =
display: inline !important;">fishing for information! &nbsp;The details =
seem to be irrelevant here.)</span></div></blockquote></div><br><div>=3D) =
I=E2=80=99m happy to engage in some fishing. The details may not be =
relevant but if they are I can help. I think it moved the conversation =
along the last time I spoke up.</div><div><br></div><div>I don=E2=80=99t =
mind sharing the details.</div><div><br></div><div>Preferred form: is =
actually Figma. Our designers have an entire system developed to manage =
them there. Figma is the source of truth. When we need to update an icon =
we have to go there to do it.</div><div><br></div><div>We export icons =
in SVG format that we then import into an internal web app behind our =
VPN. The tools we=E2=80=99ve used to verify SVG data, resize, convert, =
are all developed in-house. Even the thing that creates web font files =
is written in-house. (We no longer use =
FontForge).</div><div><br></div><div>We then store the raw SVG path data =
in a relational database.</div><div><br></div><div>This is probably =
obvious but this is all very un-friendly to what I=E2=80=99m learning =
about how DFSG works. We can=E2=80=99t share these internal tools =
because our company considers them a proprietary, competitive =
advantage.</div></body></html>=

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