Re: [TOOLS-DEVELOPMENT] DRAFT: RFI for fonts

[Bob Hinden <[e-mail]>]

Heather,

On Dec 15, 2014, at 9:06 AM, "Heather Flanagan (RFC Series Editor)" <[e-mail]> wrote:

> 
> Signed PGP part
> Hello all,
> 
> Any further comments?  This is more important than you might think; if
> it turns out we cannot find or cannot afford the necessary fonts, that
> has an impact on the non-ASCII character draft.  No sense allowing
> character sets if we don't have/can't acquire/can't afford legal fonts
> for them.


I think I understand the issue and think getting more information is good.  I have no idea what it would cost to obtain fonts for use in RFCs.  My own experience buying fonts is that they are not very expensive, but that was for individual use.  Not sure how the RFC Editor would be seen.

Has anyone done any research looking at font suppliers to see what the common practice is?  Do we know what we are looking for?  There are, of course, a zillion fonts.

We could even commission a set of RFC fonts :-)

Bob




> 
> 
> -Heather
> 
> On 12/2/14 5:17 AM, Heather Flanagan (RFC Series Editor) wrote:
> >
> > On 12/1/14 7:12 PM, Russ Housley wrote:
> >> I would not say  "It is unlikely that license-free or low-cost
> >> fonts exist to cover all these requirements.   "
> >
> > OK.  Removed.
> >
> >
> >> It would be great is someone could tell us how to meet these
> >> needs.
> >
> > If you're curious, Martin Dürst has a quick write up on the
> > problem(s) -
> > http://www.rfc-editor.org/pipermail/rfc-interest/2014-October/008044.html
> >
> >
> >
> >  Russ
> >
> >
> >> On Dec 1, 2014, at 7:07 AM, Heather Flanagan (RFC Series Editor)
> >> wrote:
> >
> >>>
> >> Hello all,
> >
> >> I'm drafting an RFI to collect information on fonts.  Below is my
> >> first cut.  Questions for this group: what's missing?  Should I
> >> include any information on things I already know about (in
> >> particular, Google's Noto font library)?
> >
> >> I don't know if this will turn into an RFP or something else;
> >> that's why I'm doing an RFI.
> >
> >> -----
> >
> >> Embedded Fonts for the PDF Publication Format for RFCs
> >
> >> Request for Information
> >
> >
> >
> >> Description:
> >
> >> In 2013, the RFC Series Editor announced to the IETF community the
> >> intent to change the format for RFCs from a single, plain-text,
> >> ASCII-only format to a format based on a canonical XML file with
> >> multiple publication formats.  One of those publication formats
> >> will be PDF/A-3 (see <draft-hansen-rfc-use-of-pdf).
> >
> >
> >
> >> One of the requirements for the PDF/A-3 format is that the font
> >> information for any and all fonts used for that document be
> >> embedded within the file.  The purpose here is to make the file as
> >> self-contained and stable as possible.    Requirements for the
> >> fonts themselves include:
> >
> >
> >
> >> ·      Serif and sans-serif fonts should be available (to meet the
> >> requirement in <draft-hansen-rfc-use-of-pdf> for main text and
> >> headings).
> >
> >> ·      A fixed-width font must be available for code, BNF, and any
> >> other text that requires such a font as an aid in insuring
> >> alignment.
> >
> >
> >> ·      Wide support for Unicode (which may require multiple fonts)
> >> is necessary to support the change that allows non-ASCII characters
> >> in RFCs, such as person names in native languages.
> >
> >> ·      Liberal or low-cost license terms.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >> It is unlikely that license-free or low-cost fonts exist to cover
> >> all these requirements.   This RFI is seeking information on what
> >> is available, where gaps exist such that a font might need to be
> >> acquired with a for-fee license, and where a font might need to be
> >> designed.
> >
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
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> >>> <mailto:[e-mail]>
> >>> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/tools-development
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> 
> 
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