Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Self-host your fonts for better performance

wicki.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

411–417 of 417 posts

Re: Self-host your fonts for better performance

#411

Post by cutemonster »

rendall wrote: post #369
drummer wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they actually track users based on their fonts being loaded from their site?

Let's think it through together. What can be tracked from that? IP address, which can be linked to an individual. Origin / Referer. Is that it? Does google analytics add request headers? So, at least "this individual visited this site at this time"

And also, that you were at home (or the office or wherever the ip addr is) at that particular time.

So, also, location and daily habits, where you go and so.

(The tracking company probably has you associated with a bunch of ip addresses and with a bit fingerprinting they'll know it's you at the ip at that time)

Re: Self-host your fonts for better performance

#412

Post by arp242 »

Santosh83 wrote: post #70

The convenience is the major factor. When self hosting, you have to manually take into account stuff like font format, fallbacks for older browsers, preloading considerations, hinting or no hinting, variable or not variable, and manage the (often long) CSS yourself, and keep it updated as browser compatibility and technology changes. Google does all this for you with the inclusion of a single line. But yes, the drawb…

These days you can just use WOFF2 and be done with it. It won't work for a small minority of older browsers, but I think that's okay for webfonts, as they're entirely optional and you site will work fine without them.

Re: Self-host your fonts for better performance

#413

Post by young_unixer »

rambojazz wrote: post #392
lukepothier wrote: post #133

Maybe I'm being naïve, but why don't browsers ship with more popular fonts bundled to avoid problems like these? I have no issue with any of my browsers taking up fractionally more space for an extensive cache of the most popular web fonts when the payoff is better performance on so many sites. Of course, servers should still be capable of serving the fonts that the client requires to render the content correctly, bu…

Why can't users install the fonts directly on their OSes instead? If it's on the OS, browsers can pick them up and I can install only the fonts I want.

I'm a "proficient" computer user and don't really know how to install fonts on my OS.

I could learn how to do it in 30 minutes, but I don't feel like spending 30 minutes learning that.

I'd guess that 99% of users don't know how to install fonts or simply don't care about it enough to their spend time installing fonts.

Re: Self-host your fonts for better performance

#414

Post by rangibaby »

colonwqbang wrote: post #380
amyjess wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some features of the license agreement are though. For example, some foundries require you buy a special expensive license in order to use their fonts in a PDF. IIRC, Hoefler & Co. and Emigre do this (though it's been years since I've looked, so I may have changed this). Their rationale is that since it's possible to extract font from a PDF, they need to pay for any font piracy that results from that. (never mind tha…

You may not like it, neither do I. But what you have there is just rent plain and simple, not rent-seeking. Rent-seeking is when a third party uses force to claim profit from an agreement they're not actually party to. For example, you rent a business property. You pay the landlord and agree to their terms. Next week the mob shows up and demand protection money to "keep you from harm". Implying that harm will surely…

> Rent-seeking is when a third party uses force to claim profit from an agreement they're not actually party to.

The agreement is between you and the law in most countries, which says that typefaces are exempt from copyright. The third party are foundries who license fonts to you and charge you more based on how popular your website is.

Re: Self-host your fonts for better performance

#415

Post by colonwqbang »

rangibaby wrote: post #414
colonwqbang wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may not like it, neither do I. But what you have there is just rent plain and simple, not rent-seeking. Rent-seeking is when a third party uses force to claim profit from an agreement they're not actually party to. For example, you rent a business property. You pay the landlord and agree to their terms. Next week the mob shows up and demand protection money to "keep you from harm". Implying that harm will surely…

> Rent-seeking is when a third party uses force to claim profit from an agreement they're not actually party to. The agreement is between you and the law in most countries, which says that typefaces are exempt from copyright. The third party are foundries who license fonts to you and charge you more based on how popular your website is.

A typeface is an artistic work and as such is certainly covered by copyright in "most countries". If they were not then why would license agreements even be a thing.

If you don't wish to agree to the license terms of a particular typeface, you have the option to choose another typeface instead. This includes the myriad free typefaces that exist today.

If you buy something from me or strike a license agreement with me, I'm not a "third party" to that transaction.

Re: Self-host your fonts for better performance

#416

Post by tekromancr »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #386
tekromancr wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So? You are just describing how discourse works. Entity A does thing that impacts entity B. Entity B makes those effects known to a broader group than entity B. Maybe entity A does thing about it, maybe not.

I’m describing a situation where a certain set of opinions is insatiable because sating any subset thirsts another.

ok, that makes sense, but I think that describes such a general idea. I am incapable of imagining a single thing everyone on the entire planet is capable of agreeing on; so inherently, any action anyone could possibly ever take would be subject to mutually exclusive opinions.

Re: Self-host your fonts for better performance

#417

Post by rangibaby »

colonwqbang wrote: post #415
rangibaby wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rent-seeking is when a third party uses force to claim profit from an agreement they're not actually party to. The agreement is between you and the law in most countries, which says that typefaces are exempt from copyright. The third party are foundries who license fonts to you and charge you more based on how popular your website is.

A typeface is an artistic work and as such is certainly covered by copyright in "most countries". If they were not then why would license agreements even be a thing. If you don't wish to agree to the license terms of a particular typeface, you have the option to choose another typeface instead. This includes the myriad free typefaces that exist today. If you buy something from me or strike a license agreement with me…

There is literally an exception in US and other countries’ copyright law just for typefaces.

> If they were not then why would license agreements even be a thing.

We could make a license agreement that you pay me per breathe of air you take. It’s not my fault if you sign that.

Post reply on HN