Re: current version of unicode font (Open Type) in e-mails

From: Antoine Leca (Antoine10646@leca-marti.org)
Date: Fri Dec 03 2004 - 05:57:30 CST

  • Next message: Cristian Secarã: "RE: current version of unicode-font"

    > Arial Unicode MS version 1.01 is most current and shipped with Office
    > 2003. I called it OpenFont. Sorry! I double-clicked on its icon -
    > whith a colored "OT" - in \WINDOWS\Fonts again it says after version
    > 1.xx "(Opent Type)". I took that to mean Open Source or something
    > more open than MS's restrictive policy about it. I still claim it
    > does not deserve the label OPEN at present.

    All what is labeled "Open" does not mean OpenSource, much less "free"; these
    days, it is much more a marketing gimmick. For example, here in Europe
    (where it is not common), some stores are marked "open all night long." But
    nobody expects them to offer free food ;-).
    Open Type is a technology, that requires the application to provide some
    processing itself (instead on relying on the graphical engine as with Type 1
    or TrueType): so the font is "open" to the application.
    And to avoid confusion: OpenType (well, TrueType Open as it was named then)
    predates OpenSource.

    Also, I am not sure of the licensing conditions of Arial Unicode MS,
    particularly v.1.01 (I did not license Office 2003, so I cannot easily
    check.)
    I was understanding that back with Office 2000 and 2002, once you licensed
    Office on one computer or for one user, you owned the right to use it even
    with another operating system, say Linux. (On the other hand, I know things
    are different for fonts like Latha, that come with the operating system
    itself, and it seems prohibited to use them on another system.)

    > Can they just be copied into \WINDOWS\Fonts as is the easiest
    > 'installation' of ttf-fonts ?

    Not really. The system will not notice it, at least until you reboot it.
    A trick that works well for me is to copy it there, then to launch Explorer
    on this very directory. This way Windows forces a re-enumeration of the
    folder, and it will register your newly added font.
    Also, alternatively, you can open the folder in Explorer and drop the font
    inside it.

    > Vice versa MS-fonts can be installed under Linux,

    See above: you really chould check the licensing conditions. And beware,
    since they varies from font to font, or even from release to release (for
    example, with Arial, you can of course install the one that come with
    "freecorefonts", but i understand you are not allowed to install the newer
    release that come with XP.)

    Antoine



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