licenseproprietaryubuntu-font-family
Huge Ubuntu fan here, I really like the Ubuntu font, but as far as I know you may only use it in open-source applications. I want to use it in an iPhone/iPad app. Due to Apple's contracts, I can't make the project open-source.
So, the question actually is, is it allowed to use/distribute the Ubuntu font in an iPhone/iPad application (free or paid)? Would be great if that's allowed!
On the Ubuntu font site, there is this file.
And you can read in the Preamble:
This licence allows the licensed fonts to be used, studied, modified and redistributed freely. The fonts, including any derivative works, can be bundled, embedded, and redistributed provided the terms of this licence are met. The fonts and derivatives, however, cannot be released under any other licence. The requirement for fonts to remain under this licence does not require any document created using the fonts or their derivatives to be published under this licence, as long as the primary purpose of the document is not to be a vehicle for the distribution of the fonts.
There are 2 methods with which you can embed the Ubuntu font in your website - using the Google Font Directory (preferred) or using the @font-face CSS declaration and converting your fonts manually.
You can now use the Ubuntu font as a Google web font. This will make the process a lot simpler. Most of the content of this part of the answer comes from sladen's answer.
Why is using the Google Font API the preferred method?
Using the Google Font API is an excellent suggestion as it allows webfonts to automatically work on all modern browsers without having to worry about the details. Using the font API means visitors will always see the latest version of the typeface automatically.
How can I use the Google Font API?
Since 21 December 2010 the Ubuntu Font Family is now included and deployable from the Google Font API, visit:
You can read the Google Web Font posting about the news, and then:
Open the Google Font Directory: "Ubuntu - Use this font" page
Tick the combination of weights and styles out of Regular, Italic, Bold and Bold-Italic that you need for your web page.
If the default is incorrect, select the language/script combination you need: a Russian website with English examples might use "Cyrillic,Latin".
Add the given <link> tag between <head> ... </head> in your HTML page or templates and add the appropriate CSS code in between <style> ... </style> tags in your <head>.
For example, if you were creating the Russian/English hybrid website and wanted to use the font as the default for all text, you could add the following code between your <head> tags:
<link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Ubuntu&subset=cyrillic,latin' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' />
<style type="text/css" >
body {
font-family : 'Ubuntu', sans-serif;
}
</style>
Notes:
"Latin" is the script that English and many other European and African languages are written in.
"Subsetting" optimises the font files by only sending characters for certain languages, the fonts are around 44 kB eachs. The 168 kB figure shown at the moment is for all 1,200+ glyphs as a single web font download—and most are not needed for a single website.
The Ubuntu font files are automatically converted in the correct format for different browsers; depending on the make and version the required format is WOFF, EOT, SVG or TTF. The right combination of CSS is specific to each page request and magically solves this hard problem.
You can embed the Ubuntu fonts by converting them to WOFF fonts. You can then embed them using the CSS @font-face declaration. The fonts (.ttf files) can be found in /usr/share/fonts/truetype/ubuntu-font-family.
For example, to use the Ubuntu Regular font, converted to a WOFF file, Ubuntu-R.woff, use this CSS code:
@font-face
{
font-family : "Ubuntu-R";
src: url('Ubuntu-R.woff');
}
Similarly for Ubuntu Bold:
@font-face
{
font-family : "Ubuntu";
src: url('Ubuntu-B.woff');
font-weight : bold;
}
Ubuntu Italic:
@font-face
{
font-family : "Ubuntu";
src: url('Ubuntu-I.woff');
font-style : italic;
}
Ubuntu Bold Italic:
@font-face
{
font-family : "Ubuntu";
src: url('Ubuntu-BI.woff');
font-weight : bold;
font-style : italic;
}
This is supported by all recent browsers.
Please remember that some users set up their browsers to use a specific set of fonts and may be annoyed if custom fonts are used. Also, read the Ubuntu Font Licence for exact terms as to how the font can be distributed.
Best Answer
You are not forced to use the font with free/open source applications. The license just states that you must distribute the license together with the font itself. The license also says what you have to do when you modify the font, but this is not your case.
It is very short and you can read it here: http://font.ubuntu.com/ufl/
If you are seeking a more authoritative answer, remember that Canonical is always available to help you: legal AT canonical.com