3 ms·

If we made it illegal to charge money for, we would have just as many good fonts as we do now. We should just change the law to outlaw making money this way.

ethanbond 3y ago
What? Why would someone spend decades of their lives mastering a craft like typeface design if there were no way to make money from it? How could someone justify it?
- anthonyskipper 3y ago
  That is like asking how could linux exist. Use your brain and imagine. We would likely have many more great fonts than we do today if you outlawed charging for them because people would no long have a protectionist mindset. It would be easy for people to modify existing ones so they worked better for various issues, and it wouldn't stop people creating beautiful new ones for whatever reason they wanted like art... or like linux. Sometimes the world works better without capitalism though that might be hard to believe.
  - ethanbond 3y ago
    You are aware that Linux is in fact supported by commercial enterprises of various sizes all up and down the value chain, right? And yeah, it’s great that we happened upon a quasi-religious movement in software that has managed to align itself with commercial interests. OSS, in my opinion, will go down as one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Want to know why it’s such an achievement? Because it was profoundly unlikely and continues to be difficult in all sorts of ways. Question: What’s your job and your approximate hourly rate? Is it something that requires years or decades of training and do you charge $0?
    - anthonyskipper 3y ago
      Yes, I'm aware, but if none of those companies existed linux would still be doing great. Same way that if we made it so you couldn't charge for fonts the entire ecosystem would still be doing great. We don't need the rent seeking.
      - ethanbond 3y ago
        So what do you do and what do you charge for it?

ethanbond 3y ago

What? Why would someone spend decades of their lives mastering a craft like typeface design if there were no way to make money from it? How could someone justify it?

anthonyskipper 3y ago
That is like asking how could linux exist. Use your brain and imagine. We would likely have many more great fonts than we do today if you outlawed charging for them because people would no long have a protectionist mindset. It would be easy for people to modify existing ones so they worked better for various issues, and it wouldn't stop people creating beautiful new ones for whatever reason they wanted like art... or like linux. Sometimes the world works better without capitalism though that might be hard to believe.
- ethanbond 3y ago
  You are aware that Linux is in fact supported by commercial enterprises of various sizes all up and down the value chain, right? And yeah, it’s great that we happened upon a quasi-religious movement in software that has managed to align itself with commercial interests. OSS, in my opinion, will go down as one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Want to know why it’s such an achievement? Because it was profoundly unlikely and continues to be difficult in all sorts of ways. Question: What’s your job and your approximate hourly rate? Is it something that requires years or decades of training and do you charge $0?
  - anthonyskipper 3y ago
    Yes, I'm aware, but if none of those companies existed linux would still be doing great. Same way that if we made it so you couldn't charge for fonts the entire ecosystem would still be doing great. We don't need the rent seeking.
    - ethanbond 3y ago
      So what do you do and what do you charge for it?