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I am not an http expert, but could we put that file on one location on the web so that I do not download it for every fricking site I open? Or even better, coul

I am not an http expert, but could we put that file on one location on the web so that I do not download it for every fricking site I open? Or even better, could not the browser bundle it?

Forge36 8y ago
Or someone could add it with an extension as a current middle ground.
edent 8y ago
I've stuck it on GitLab - https://gitlab.com/edent/unifont/ https://gitlab.com/edent/unifont/ - but yes, I agree with you. Every browser, OS, and Electron App could bundle it.
- lucideer 8y ago
  > Every b̶r̶o̶w̶s̶e̶r̶, OS, a̶n̶d̶ E̶l̶e̶c̶t̶r̶o̶n̶ A̶p̶p̶ could bundle it. Every browser and Electron app could bundle it, but this seems like the "wrong" place to implement this. I'd suggest that they could bundle it temporarily until OSes catch up.
thatannoyingguy 8y ago
"I am not arguing that you should serve an extra couple of MB on every webpage (although modern sites are so bloated it probably doesn't matter...) - but perhaps you should bundle it with your webview apps." The author already mentions the idea that it should be bundled with webview apps which also refers to browsers. A browser plugin could be a good starting point until the patched browsers are released.
- gwern 8y ago
  It would also make sense to include it only as a fallback font, downloaded only if a Unicode point is actually used in the page which the primary font didn't cover, which I think is how '@font-face' would act if he didn't specify Unifont as the primary font in 'font-family'.
pferde 8y ago
Why not just have it installed on your system, and disallow websites to dictate which fonts to use? Edit to make the comment (hopefully) more valuable: I mean, unless certain choice of fonts is somehow intrinsic to the content or purpose a given website serves, the browser, and by extension the user, probably know better which fonts are preferable for them to comfortably read the textual content.
- scrollaway 8y ago
  Web fonts have their place. For example they're extremely commonly used to efficiently serve icons that seamlessly blend into text across many websites. In my previous app I used web fonts to be able to render Hearthstone cards using the correct font the game uses. In my previous app I used web fonts to
jfk13 8y ago
If browsers are to bundle fonts, they should bundle fonts that actually support correct rendering of the various scripts in Unicode - e.g. the Noto fonts. Unifont simply cannot render many languages correctly. Better still, though, for operating systems to bundle adequate fonts. And indeed, OS-installed font coverage has come a long way in recent years.
delinka 8y ago
If I'm reading the license and the exception correctly, bundling in a non-GPL browser would violate the font's license.
- vortico 8y ago
  As long as the browser is GPL-compatable it's okay. Chrome isn't, and Chromium and Firefox might not be either due to binary blobs for DRM stuff.

I am not an http expert, but could we put that file on one location on the web so that I do not download it for every fricking site I open? Or even better, could not the browser bundle it?

Forge36 8y ago

Or someone could add it with an extension as a current middle ground.

edent 8y ago

I've stuck it on GitLab - https://gitlab.com/edent/unifont/ https://gitlab.com/edent/unifont/ - but yes, I agree with you. Every browser, OS, and Electron App could bundle it.

lucideer 8y ago
> Every b̶r̶o̶w̶s̶e̶r̶, OS, a̶n̶d̶ E̶l̶e̶c̶t̶r̶o̶n̶ A̶p̶p̶ could bundle it. Every browser and Electron app could bundle it, but this seems like the "wrong" place to implement this. I'd suggest that they could bundle it temporarily until OSes catch up.

thatannoyingguy 8y ago

"I am not arguing that you should serve an extra couple of MB on every webpage (although modern sites are so bloated it probably doesn't matter...) - but perhaps you should bundle it with your webview apps." The author already mentions the idea that it should be bundled with webview apps which also refers to browsers. A browser plugin could be a good starting point until the patched browsers are released.

gwern 8y ago
It would also make sense to include it only as a fallback font, downloaded only if a Unicode point is actually used in the page which the primary font didn't cover, which I think is how '@font-face' would act if he didn't specify Unifont as the primary font in 'font-family'.

pferde 8y ago

Why not just have it installed on your system, and disallow websites to dictate which fonts to use? Edit to make the comment (hopefully) more valuable: I mean, unless certain choice of fonts is somehow intrinsic to the content or purpose a given website serves, the browser, and by extension the user, probably know better which fonts are preferable for them to comfortably read the textual content.

scrollaway 8y ago
Web fonts have their place. For example they're extremely commonly used to efficiently serve icons that seamlessly blend into text across many websites. In my previous app I used web fonts to be able to render Hearthstone cards using the correct font the game uses. In my previous app I used web fonts to

jfk13 8y ago

If browsers are to bundle fonts, they should bundle fonts that actually support correct rendering of the various scripts in Unicode - e.g. the Noto fonts. Unifont simply cannot render many languages correctly. Better still, though, for operating systems to bundle adequate fonts. And indeed, OS-installed font coverage has come a long way in recent years.

delinka 8y ago

If I'm reading the license and the exception correctly, bundling in a non-GPL browser would violate the font's license.

vortico 8y ago
As long as the browser is GPL-compatable it's okay. Chrome isn't, and Chromium and Firefox might not be either due to binary blobs for DRM stuff.