Font Library

From HandWiki
Short description: Free/open font hosting web site
Font Library
Open Font Library logo.svg
Created byJohn Philips,[1] Dave Crossland,[1][2] George Williams[1]
Websitefontlibrary.org

The Font Library (originally called the Open Font Library) is a project devoted to hosting and encouraging the creation of fonts released under Free Licenses.[3] It is a sister project to Openclipart[1][2][4] and hosts over 6000 fonts from over 250 contributors.[5] These are intended to be downloaded, remixed and shared freely.[6]


In 2024, Font Library posted news that they have adopted Nostr for communications.[7] Also, the project announced that the codebase is being rewritten due to the core technology Aiki Framework being in disrepair since the execution of its founder, Bassel Khartabil.[8] A new logo is also in the works to mark the change.[9]


History

Originally created as an initiative in 2006, the project relaunched on May 12, 2011 at the Libre Graphics Meeting 2011 in Montreal by Fabricatorz developer Christopher Adams.[10]

The Open Font Library hosted a mailing list through which font developers discuss ways to improve libre fonts.[11]

The site was started with a deployment of ccHost version 4, and in 2008 Dave Crossland made a funding campaign that raised over US$10,000 from Mozilla, Prince XML, River Valley and TUG to transition to ccHost 5 with a new brand to promote web font linking. However, the work done with the funds was not published until 2010 at the 2010 Libre Graphics Meeting in Brussels.

The project's members met annually at the Libre Graphics Meeting. In 2011, work supported by Dave Crossland, Christopher Adams, Fabricatorz and other community members got a major release at the LGM in Montreal. Fabricatorz built the project on the Aiki Framework and managed development via Launchpad.

In April 2012, Fabricatorz released an update to Open Font Library that includes an interactive font catalogue preview feature, HTML and CSS code implementation, and a new design by Manufactura Independente.[12]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "John Philips – Open Font Library – Full Interview". 17 October 2007. http://fullcirclemagazine.org/john-philips-open-font-library-full-interview/. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Then, now, and the future of open source fonts". https://opensource.com/life/13/11/dave-crossland-history-future-open-source-fonts. 
  3. Dmitri Popov (2014-01-29). "Open Font Library: The Font Fountain". Linux Magazine. http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Productivity-Sauce/Open-Font-Library-The-Font-Fountain. 
  4. "Finding and using free fonts [LWN.net"]. https://lwn.net/Articles/315872/. 
  5. "Top 5 sources for open source fonts". https://opensource.com/life/16/2/top-sources-open-source-fonts. 
  6. "The Ubuntu font and a fresh look at open font licensing [LWN.net"]. https://lwn.net/Articles/409813/. 
  7. "Follow FONTLIBRARY on Nostr". 24 Jan 2024. https://fontlibrary.org/news/#nostr. 
  8. "Follow FONTLIBRARY on Nostr". 24 Jan 2024. https://fontlibrary.org/news/#plan. 
  9. "Fontlibrary 2024 Logo Seed". 29 Jan 2024. https://fontlibrary.org/news/#logo. 
  10. "Launching the Open Font Library and Freeing Fonts - Fabricatorz". 19 May 2011. http://fabricatorz.com/2011/05/launching-the-open-font-library-and-freeing-fonts/. 
  11. "Adobe ventures into open fonts [LWN.net"]. https://lwn.net/Articles/509952/. 
  12. "Open Font Library Provides Free Fonts For All, Developers and Stay-At-Home Dads Alike". 12 April 2012. http://fabricatorz.com/2012/04/open-font-library-provides-free-fonts-for-all-developers-and-stay-at-home-dads-alike. 

External links