Package: wnpp Version: N/A; reported 2016-04-01 Severity: wishlist X-Debbugs-CC: pkg-fonts-de...@lists.alioth.debian.org
Hello, I would like to package the OCR-B font available here: http://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/fonts.php It contains OpenType versions of the standard OCR-A and OCR-B fonts, however as there is a pre-existing OCR-A package I would propose packaging just the OCR-B component unless there is a desire for a combined package to supersede the current one (see bug #818884). OCR-B is the font used in passport machine-readable zones, as well as with certain barcodes. Regarding licensing: The package is a conversion of a previous METAFONT font that appears to already be distributed with Debian; all of the changes to this have been dedicated to the public domain (see the link above). The original METAFONT sources were from a digitisation by Norman Schwarz. These are older than the current CTAN sources, which state that lift all previous restrictions on modification and distribution are lifted: [https://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/fonts/ocr-b/?lang=en] 2. To my knowledge, the original typeface for OCR-B was developed by Adrian Frutiger. In Germany there even exists an industrial standard - DIN ????? - that describes the typefaces. Based on such material the input has been developed. I cannot speak to the legal consequences of these. As far as the digitization in METAFONT input which I have developed, you may freely use, modify, and/or distribute any of these files or the resulting fonts, without limitation. A previous release of ocr-b only granted rights for non-commercial use; that restriction is now lifted. This was confirmed by an email from upstream, which I have been given permission to reproduce here: [From: msk...@ansuz.sooke.bc.ca] > Is your OCR-B font completely based upon the "ocr-b" package on CTAN? I don't know what you mean by "completely based upon." It is a combination of code from an earlier version of Norbert Schwarz's ocr-b package (prior to the current one on CTAN) and some original code from me. > at least a Debian package) for it, since it seems not to be available > for either Debian or RedHat, and want to be 100% sure of the licensing > situation. As always, I'm not a lawyer and authoritative legal advice can only come from one. Does this seem okay for me to go ahead and package? Thanks, Lachlan
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