4 ms·

Probably the majority of the software I use to write code is open source, but font authors will routinely ask for exorbitant amounts for a license, they often r

Probably the majority of the software I use to write code is open source, but font authors will routinely ask for exorbitant amounts for a license, they often refuse to charge a flat fee, insisting that they get a higher cut if your app has a certain number of users. Just because an app is popular, doesn't mean it's raking in the dough to spend six figures on a font license. It's just bizarre that I can build an app that serves millions of users using tech stacks like Linux, HTML, JS, CSS, Rust, Go, with tens of thousands of open source libs and modules to choose from, none of which have per-user fees, the majority of which have no fees at all, of which millions of man-hours have gone into producing and maintaining, and a font could end up being the most expensive component of my app.

jefftk 3y ago
It's really not that weird: there are open source fonts and proprietary fonts, just as there is open source software and proprietary software.
- chrisco255 3y ago
  And even proprietary software used in programming web servers rarely ever attempts to charge a "per user" fee or six figures for a mildly popular app to use.
giraffe_lady 3y ago
It's more comparable to illustration or photography, or even to a written body of html or js, than it is to the programming language. It's the output of an applied specialist technician for a specific purpose. So similar to those other things you can find a free or cheap generic off-the-shelf one that suits your use, open source fonts exist. Or you can pay for a specific one that suits it better. Font design is a domain several times older than the oldest reasonable precursor to computers. It's imo shitty to stomp in and demand it conform to our idea of how licensing should work.
- chrisco255 3y ago
  > It's more comparable to illustration or photography, or even to a written body of html or js, than it is to the programming languag Yeah again I can download about a few hundred thousand open source tools like ffmpeg, git, Linux, Chromium, web servers, databases, queues, web libs, etc and almost always the best stuff is open source. Almost never is there some kind of per user fee just for copying code, and if it is, almost nobody is using it. It's not shitty for me to call out greedy excessive licensing practices.
  - giraffe_lady 3y ago
    Font forge is open source, which is a tool more comparable to those than a completed font is. You're not entitled the results of the work of other specialists, even if you've become accustomed to that in other areas. And again, do you give away your completed work? Does no one pay you for the expertise you use for them? A font is much more similar to a completed web app than it is to the tools used to create that app. You don't expect someone to make an app for you for free, even if there are apps available for your use for free. Same thing here. Typographers aren't getting rich lmao. They're trying to pay the rent with their skills same as everyone.
xp84 3y ago
In case this helps anyone who’s been in this boat: I found that Monotype, who owns a LOT of fonts, offers far better terms for web and app licenses on fonts dot com, compared to myfonts dot com, which they also own. I licensed a bunch a couple years back that would have cost a fortune in recurring license fees at myfonts, which has great SEO so it’s always the first place you find. One-time purchase from fonts dot com. Yes, it was still scaled based on monthly impressions, but at least you could pay and use it forever. The other thing I found was that, on the corporate scale, Adobe Fonts (aka Typekit) is a bargain. Basically an unlimited web and app license for everything.

jefftk 3y ago

It's really not that weird: there are open source fonts and proprietary fonts, just as there is open source software and proprietary software.

chrisco255 3y ago
And even proprietary software used in programming web servers rarely ever attempts to charge a "per user" fee or six figures for a mildly popular app to use.

giraffe_lady 3y ago

It's more comparable to illustration or photography, or even to a written body of html or js, than it is to the programming language. It's the output of an applied specialist technician for a specific purpose. So similar to those other things you can find a free or cheap generic off-the-shelf one that suits your use, open source fonts exist. Or you can pay for a specific one that suits it better. Font design is a domain several times older than the oldest reasonable precursor to computers. It's imo shitty to stomp in and demand it conform to our idea of how licensing should work.

chrisco255 3y ago
> It's more comparable to illustration or photography, or even to a written body of html or js, than it is to the programming languag Yeah again I can download about a few hundred thousand open source tools like ffmpeg, git, Linux, Chromium, web servers, databases, queues, web libs, etc and almost always the best stuff is open source. Almost never is there some kind of per user fee just for copying code, and if it is, almost nobody is using it. It's not shitty for me to call out greedy excessive licensing practices.
- giraffe_lady 3y ago
  Font forge is open source, which is a tool more comparable to those than a completed font is. You're not entitled the results of the work of other specialists, even if you've become accustomed to that in other areas. And again, do you give away your completed work? Does no one pay you for the expertise you use for them? A font is much more similar to a completed web app than it is to the tools used to create that app. You don't expect someone to make an app for you for free, even if there are apps available for your use for free. Same thing here. Typographers aren't getting rich lmao. They're trying to pay the rent with their skills same as everyone.

xp84 3y ago

In case this helps anyone who’s been in this boat: I found that Monotype, who owns a LOT of fonts, offers far better terms for web and app licenses on fonts dot com, compared to myfonts dot com, which they also own. I licensed a bunch a couple years back that would have cost a fortune in recurring license fees at myfonts, which has great SEO so it’s always the first place you find. One-time purchase from fonts dot com. Yes, it was still scaled based on monthly impressions, but at least you could pay and use it forever. The other thing I found was that, on the corporate scale, Adobe Fonts (aka Typekit) is a bargain. Basically an unlimited web and app license for everything.