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MgOpen typefaces

The MgOpen typefaces are freely available and contain glyphs for viewing texts
in Greek (written in the monotoniko system).

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  • Contents
  • Download the typefaces
  • History
  • Contact
  • License
  • Frequently asked questions on licensing

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Contents

The MgOpen typeface collection is comprised by the following typefaces:

MgOpenCanonicaCanonica sample

MgOpenCanonica is a serif typeface, based on the design of Times Roman.

MgOpenCosmeticaCosmetica sample

MgOpenCosmetica is a sans-serif typeface, based on the design of Optima.

MgOpenModata Modata sample

MgOpenModata is another sans-serif typeface.

MgOpenModernaModerna sample

MgOpenModerna is a sans-serif typeface, based on the design of Helvetica.

As can be seen from the samples above, each family contains four fonts, namely
all the combinations of regular and bold weight and upright and italic (or
oblique) shape.

All the fonts contain glyphs for the latin and greek alphabet (using the
monotoniko system), while the fonts of the Canonica family also contain all the
glyphs necessary for viewing Greek texts written in the polytoniko system.

All the fonts use the Unicode encoding for characters and are in the TrueType
format.

The fonts, in their initial release, have some characters missing, with most
important the lack of the Euro symbol. These shortcomings will be fixed in
future releases.

Download the fonts

You can download the fonts either as a compressed archive file of the full
collection or individually per family, or even per font.

  • Full MgOpen collection: MgOpen.tar.gz (891.086 bytes)
  • Single families:
      □ Canonica family: MgOpenCanonica.tar.gz (450.874 bytes)
          ☆ Regular: MgOpenCanonicaRegular.ttf (281.580 bytes)
          ☆ Italic: MgOpenCanonicaItalic.ttf (288.332 bytes)
          ☆ Bold: MgOpenCanonicaBold.ttf (284.968 bytes)
          ☆ Bold Oblique: MgOpenCanonicaBoldItalic.ttf (285.720 bytes)
      □ 
    Cosmetica family: MgOpenCosmetica.tar.gz (136.830 bytes)
          ☆ Regular: MgOpenCosmeticaRegular.ttf (61.624 bytes)
          ☆ Oblique: MgOpenCosmeticaOblique.ttf (60.296 bytes)
          ☆ Bold: MgOpenCosmeticaBold.ttf (62.524 bytes)
          ☆ Bold Oblique: MgOpenCosmeticaBoldOblique.ttf (60.184 bytes)
      □ Modata family: MgOpenModata.tar.gz (175.490 bytes)
          ☆ Regular: MgOpenModataRegular.ttf (72.244 bytes)
          ☆ Oblique: MgOpenModataOblique.ttf (75.732 bytes)
          ☆ Bold: MgOpenModataBold.ttf (72.632 bytes)
          ☆ Bold Oblique: MgOpenModataBoldOblique.ttf (73.912 bytes)
      □ Moderna family: MgOpenModerna.tar.gz (126.871 bytes)
          ☆ Regular: MgOpenModernaRegular.ttf (60.404 bytes)
          ☆ Oblique: MgOpenModernaOblique.ttf (61.440 bytes)
          ☆ Bold: MgOpenModernaBold.ttf (57.592 bytes)
          ☆ Bold Oblique: MgOpenModernaBoldOblique.ttf (56.932 bytes)

The fonts are already available in Debian GNU/Linux, as well as any other
distribution that can make use of Debian packages and software repositories:
simply install the ttf-mgopen package from the "sarge" release (e.g., with the
command: apt-get install ttf-mgopen).

History

The typefaces contained in the MgOpen collection have been commercially
available in the past by Magenta Ltd. Theodoros Karounos initially contacted
Panayiotis Sidiropoulos suggesting that some fonts be released as free
software. After the company's positive reaction to this proposal, these fonts
were selected by Alexios Zavras from Magenta's extensive font portfolio. Zenon
Mousmoulas processed the legal issues concerning the fonts and their licensing
terms; after negotiating with the company's legal counsel and reaching an
agreement, Magenta executives officially announced their intention to release
the particular fonts as free software, at the same time asking for help in
accomplishing this goal. Alexios Zavras made the first round of corrections and
additions, and transformed the fonts in modern encodings and file formats.
Konstantinos Margaritis has subsequently undertaken the task of adopting the
fonts for their inclusion in Debian GNU/Linux.

It was decided to release the fonts under a license closely modeled after the
one used by Bitstream Inc. and GNOME Foundation for the Bitstream Vera fonts.
This license provides users with almost unlimited freedom, essentially giving
them the right to modify and redistribute the fonts as long as each font is not
sold separately and that variations and derivatives will not be distributed
under the same name (MgOpen). Please read the exact license agreement below.

Contact

You can e-mail fonts@ellak.gr to report any problems you may have spotted while
using the fonts. You are kindly requested to first read this page as well as
any documentation files that may be included in the fonts distribution for
issues already known. In order to verify a potential problem, you are advised
to follow the procedures described in the Bitstream Vera fonts web page. If you
are planning on making modifications or additions to the fonts, we would like
to ask you to inform us beforehand by contacting us at the above address, in
order to coordinate efforts and achieve the best possible result.

License

The license of the typefaces is reproduced below. You can compare it to the
Bistream Vera license. Please read it carefully. The use of the typefaces
implies tha you have read, understood and accept the license agreement.

Copyright © 2004 by MAGENTA Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
the fonts accompanying this license ("Fonts") and associated documentation
files (the "Font Software"), to reproduce and distribute the Font Software,
including without limitation the rights to use, copy, merge, publish,
distribute, and/or sell copies of the Font Software, and to permit persons to
whom the Font Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following
conditions:

The above copyright and this permission notice shall be included in all copies
of one or more of the Font Software typefaces.

The Font Software may be modified, altered, or added to, and in particular the
designs of glyphs or characters in the Fonts may be modified and additional
glyphs or characters may be added to the Fonts, only if the fonts are renamed
to names not containing the word "MgOpen", or if the modifications are accepted
for inclusion in the Font Software itself by the each appointed Administrator.

This License becomes null and void to the extent applicable to Fonts or Font
Software that has been modified and is distributed under the "MgOpen" name.

The Font Software may be sold as part of a larger software package but no copy
of one or more of the Font Software typefaces may be sold by itself.

THE FONT SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT, PATENT,
TRADEMARK, OR OTHER RIGHT. IN NO EVENT SHALL MAGENTA OR PERSONS OR BODIES IN
CHARGE OF ADMINISTRATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE FONT SOFTWARE BE LIABLE FOR ANY
CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE FONT SOFTWARE
OR FROM OTHER DEALINGS IN THE FONT SOFTWARE.

Frequently asked questions on licensing

What is the exact meaning of the resale restrictions?

Magenta Ltd. is giving away these fonts, but wishes to ensure its competitors
can't just drop the individual fonts as is into a font sale system and sell
them as is. It seems fair that if Magenta can't make money from the MgOpen
fonts, their competitors should not be able to do so either.

I want to package these fonts separately for distribution and sale as part of a
larger software package or system. Can I do so?

Yes. RPM or Debian packages, for example, that include all the fonts, are
"larger software packages" to begin with, and they are meant to integrate in a
larger software system, so you aren't selling the typefaces independently by
themselves. See the first question above.

Are derivative works allowed?

Yes!

Can I change or add to the font(s)?

Yes, you are free to modify the fonts in any way you want. If you wish to
distribute the modified fonts to others you must change their names. In such a
case, read below the provisions regarding derivative works. You also have the
option to send your modifications to the font maintainers to be considered for
integration in MgOpen.

Under what terms are derivative works allowed?

You must change the name(s) of the fonts. This is to ensure the quality of the
fonts, both to protect Magenta and the maintainers. We want to ensure that if
an application has opened a font specifically of these names, it gets what it
expects. You must include the Magenta copyright notice. Additional copyrights
can be added, as per copyright law.

If I have improvements for MgOpen typefaces, is it possible they might get
adopted in future versions?

Yes. The agreement with Magenta Ltd. anticipates the need for maintaining the
quality of the fonts. Therefore quality additions and modifications to the
typefaces are possible and desirable as well. Please contact us if you have
such additions. Of course it is required that newly added or modified
characters preserve the style of each typeface. Note, that in general, apart
from filling in currently outstanding shortcomings, we will want new and major
additions for the entire collection, not just a single font. In the future a
document on the specific design guidelines may be added to this web site, as an
aid for potential contributors. In any case, please contact the maintainers if
you can offer any such additions or if you even consider working on them.

I want to sell a software package that uses these fonts. Can I do so?

Sure. As long as you include the copyright notice, you can bundle the fonts
with your software and sell your software with the fonts.

If applications have built the names of the specific fonts into them, can I
override this somehow to use fonts of my choosing?

This issue does not concern the fonts or their copyright. The answer depends on
the exact details of the software. Many open source systems and software (e.g.,
Gnome, KDE, etc.) are now converting to use fontconfig (see www.fontconfig.org)
to handle font configuration, selection and substitution; it has provisions for
overriding font names and subsituting alternatives. Other software (e.g., the
XFree86 core server) has other mechanisms for font substitution.