RE: non-normative best practices & file caching

At the F2F WG meeting we decided to eliminate Appendixes B and C, and integrate their content with either section 8 "Conformance requirements", or add informative notes to the main text of the spec where appropriate (see minutes [1] and WG actions tracker [2]). The relevant text has already been added to section 1 of the current editor's draft [3] which says:

"The WOFF-packaged data will typically be decoded to its original sfnt format for use by existing font-rendering APIs that expect OpenType font data, but such a decoded font should not be exposed as a file on disk, and must not be installed "globally" for use by other processes or documents on the system."

I believe that this updated text has already addressed the concerns raised by Håkon and Christopher - its primary purpose is to limit the exposure of downloaded font resource to other documents and applications, which is also reiterated by the reference to CSS spec requirements.

Regards,
Vlad


[1] http://www.w3.org/2010/08/18-webfonts-minutes-correct.html
[2] http://www.w3.org/Fonts/WG/track/actions
[3] http://dev.w3.org/webfonts/WOFF/spec/


> -----Original Message-----
> From: public-webfonts-wg-request@w3.org [mailto:public-webfonts-wg-
> request@w3.org] On Behalf Of David Singer
> Sent: Friday, October 01, 2010 4:42 PM
> To: Christopher Slye
> Cc: Håkon Wium Lie; public-webfonts-wg@w3.org
> Subject: Re: non-normative best practices & file caching
> 
> I think the point was that it should \not be 'trivial' for an end-user
> to find the file and simply copy it (e.g. into a fonts folder), so that
> if there is a cache (which the original text doesn't forbid) the font
> should not be visible/exposed as a file on the user's disk;  some
> 'hiding' is needed.
> 
> On Oct 1, 2010, at 11:00 , Christopher Slye wrote:
> 
> > Now that you mention it, I wonder if it's such a good idea to place
> that much weight on the word "install". We don't really want anything
> using the font, whether it's installed or not.
> >
> > Maybe I would change your suggested language: "... but decoded files
> should not be installed or used by other processes or documents on the
> system."
> >
> > -Christopher
> >
> >
> > On Oct 1, 2010, at 10:33 AM, Håkon Wium Lie wrote:
> >
> >> Further, I suggest one change to appendix C:
> >>
> >> The WOFF-packaged data will typically be decoded to its original
> >> sfnt format for use by existing font-rendering APIs that expect
> >> OpenType font data, but such a decoded font should not be exposed as
> >> a file on disk, and must not be installed "globally" for use by
> >> other processes or documents on the system.
> >>
> >> should be:
> >>
> >> The WOFF-packaged data will typically be decoded to its original
> >> sfnt format for use by existing font-rendering APIs that expect
> >> OpenType font data. It is acceptable for clients to store decoded
> >> files in a cache, but decoded files should not be installed for use
> >> by other processes or documents on the system.
> >>
> >> I.e., I think it's ok for browsers to cache decoded files, but they
> >> shouldn't be exposed in other ways.
> >
> >
> 
> David Singer
> Multimedia and Software Standards, Apple Inc.
>

Received on Friday, 1 October 2010 21:09:23 UTC