I had such a different experience. I found the EULA surprisingly readible and easy to understand. Just 5 easy bullet points rather than a multi page document of legalese.
That could have been in-page information rather than a PDF. Or even better, get rid of it. EULA for a font is a wishful move.
The EULA is giving you permission to e.g. copy and modify the font with certain restrictions (e.g. include the license text if you distribute it). In that regard, it's not terribly dissimilar in spirit from an open source software license.
Although the font did really try to nail its goal, I think Iosevka really nailed it. On top of that, somebody took some of what Atkinson did with their font, and applied it to Iosevka, using its insanely powerful ability to be customized wildly, to produce http://thedarnedestthing.com/iosevka%20hyperlegible
the irony of having "hyperlegible" in the title when the title itself is barely legible.
using a tiny 11px grey colour font, the body text is borderline while the navigation text is almost transparent.
I like this idea, but when I go to the web page... > Download the Font… and change the world! By downloading, installing and/or using the font software, you confirm that you have read and agree to be bound by the terms of this End-User License Agreement... Sigh. I guess I need to read that EULA. Anyway, clicking on that then downloads a pdf rather than a nice link to some web page text. Sigh. So then anyway, trying t…
I had such a different experience. I found the EULA surprisingly readible and easy to understand. Just 5 easy bullet points rather than a multi page document of legalese.
They could have used the SIL Open Font License instead. People in the open source world are often already familiar with it, and resources like tl;dr Legal are available for it.
Their EULA is, in fact almost exactly the SIL Open Font License, but someone decided minor changes in wording were more valuable than standardization.
I like this idea, but when I go to the web page... > Download the Font… and change the world! By downloading, installing and/or using the font software, you confirm that you have read and agree to be bound by the terms of this End-User License Agreement... Sigh. I guess I need to read that EULA. Anyway, clicking on that then downloads a pdf rather than a nice link to some web page text. Sigh. So then anyway, trying t…
I was showing this exact problem to my wife, a moment after trying to order something from The Container Store and their website being broken, just after trying to pay a bill and that website not working too. I swear to God this f**ing industry.
Reminds me of the parking at my local lake were you now have to read a 60 page EULA, a 30 page data "protection" agreement and install an app which requires way too many permissions. I happily paid the quite reasonable parking fee in the past when there still was a human person collecting the money. She was very friendly and always had an interesting story to tell, but now she's out of her job. Anyway, the surveillance cameras have been vandalized and parking is free now.
My guess? They use an agency to service their website and made the license in PDF so the org can change it without incurring additional cost of an update.
To OPs point, a .TXT would work just as well.
Orgs place a lot of value on control. A TXT, even if better, would be a hard sell. Especially in a 501(c), where optics matter and they are targeting a demographic that usually prefers PDFs.
My guess? They use an agency to service their website and made the license in PDF so the org can change it without incurring additional cost of an update.
I think you probably meant to write " can't change it without".
I was alluding that the Org has the ability to re-upload the pdf in a shared resource without the need of a developer.
Vs making the license file a static page that would incur billable hours to update.
I like this idea, but when I go to the web page... > Download the Font… and change the world! By downloading, installing and/or using the font software, you confirm that you have read and agree to be bound by the terms of this End-User License Agreement... Sigh. I guess I need to read that EULA. Anyway, clicking on that then downloads a pdf rather than a nice link to some web page text. Sigh. So then anyway, trying t…
PDF also cannot change from underneath you, unlike a web page. Better to have a copy of what the license was at the time you agreed to it, imo.
Pages can be saved in modern browsers about as easily, if they aren’t actually js apps in disguise. Never had a problem doing just that for plain html pages like this could have been.
An aside: Why is it that most posts about a new product or project some people have put together is usually greeted with skepticism and negativity in HN comments? What is that all about? It is a pattern Ive continuously seen and it seems like only the true home runs receive any kind of praise. Most replies are either about lack of evidence or someone’s alternative preference. I see that latter one a good deal.
It does feel like sometimes we go beyond "healthy skepticism", and assume bad intent. I think there is good intent here. Perhaps their work is coming from more of a liberal arts angle, than an engineering angle.