[tex-live] Missing .mf files

Robin Fairbairns Robin.Fairbairns at cl.cam.ac.uk
Sat Nov 15 00:51:29 CET 2008


cfrees at imapmail.org wrote:

> calligra.mf states that:
> 
> %% Changes made by S. Dachian ( Serguei.Dachian at univ-lemans.fr ) at 05/99
> %% to correct a bug in "W" letter, preventing the font from being correctly
> %% compiled by METAFONT.  Also a hyphenation character added to the font.
> %%
> %% Original author of the font is unknown.
> 
> I'd assumed this meant those listed as the current maintainers didn't
> know the origin of the font...

dachian may not have known, but it's fairly clear somewhere or other
(i've not looked at the files today, but i certainly got that impression
when writing the catalogue entry).

the simple fact is, that except in the sparsest of cases, these files
are *always* unclear.  (the truly sparse files contain no information at
all, and the cataloguer is often left guessing what the macros do, at
all.)  the authors most files that predate ctan never really considered
_distribution_ (in our sense) at all, so only a few those who were
writing utilities, and had been infected by gnu, actually tended to
write licence statements at all.

which is why there are still so many uncatalogued files on the archive,
and so many marked unknown licence in the catalogue (738 when i started
re-evaluating, 438 now -- gosh, i've just completed my 300th, and 199 of
the changes are to noinfo).

and scott -- the prudent distributor _won't_ take anything that hasn't a
permissive licence.  one might guess that (say) vanroose is a decent
person and won't sue, but eventually one will make a slip and get sued.
and where will the money to pay damages come from?  and that's why the
files you mention have disappeared.

robin


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