GNU bug report logs - #32916
font-awesome v5 build scripts are not free

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Leo Famulari <leo <at> famulari.name>
To: bug-guix <at> gnu.org
Subject: font-awesome v5 build scripts are not free
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2018 15:13:30 -0400

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We have a package of font-awesome, currently at version 4.7.0.

It's a very simple package, installing the files generated by upstream
rather than trying to rebuild them.

As of version 5, the tools used to build the generated files are not
free:

https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=902981
https://github.com/FortAwesome/Font-Awesome/issues/13467

Is this a problem for us under the FSDG? Quoting the FSDG [0]:

------
“Information for practical use” includes software, documentation, fonts,
and other data that has direct functional applications. It does not
include artistic works that have an aesthetic (rather than functional)
purpose, or statements of opinion or judgment.

All information for practical use in a free distribution must be
available in source form. (“Source” means the form of the information
that is preferred for making changes to it.)
------

Since we don't have the form of the fonts that is preferred for making
changes to them, my interpretation is that we can't include font-awesome
version 5.

What do you think?

[0]
https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.en.html

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