Mailing Lists & Newsgroups
MAILING LISTS
TYPO-LAn active typography mailing list (unmoderated). There's an extremely usable TYPO-L Archive going right back to the list's inception in Feb 1993. Roy Preston and Gary Munch are putting together a TYPO-L site. To join, send "subscribe TYPO-L firstname lastname" (no subject) to listserv@listserv.hea.ie
TYPE.DESIGN
Michel Bujardet of Match Software runs this list, targeted at type designers. To join in the discussions about designing type and earning cash, go to the type.design site and enter your email address.
TYPOGRAPHIE
An active, unmoderated mailing list run by Alain Hurtig and Jacques André for typographic discussion en français. Archived here. To join, send "SUB typographie prénom nom" (no subject) to listserv@irisa.fr
FONTLAB FORUM
The FontLab Developer Group have set up this area on the web for discussion about FontLab and their other products. All discussion is mirrored to a mailing list, which you can use if you prefer email.
OPENTYPE
A list set up by Microsoft and Adobe "to help people working on the development of OpenType fonts and associated technologies". Apply from the website to join the discussions.
FONT SOURCES
SCREENFONT
WWW-FONT
METAFONT
Type engineers (including Peter Lofting from Apple and Just van Rossum from LettError) want to define a new text "source" format for defining font information. To join send "subscribe font-sources-list firstname lastname" to majordomo@seo.apple.com
A typo list that aims to ignore anything to do with printing. Run by typophile Joe Clark (who ran the old TYPETALK list), Screenfont is "interested only in typography and graphic design intended for luminous or reflective screens". Subject areas include: film titles, including opening and closing credits; typography for the World Wide Web, CD-ROM, kiosks, E-mail, and other computer-based applications; captioning and subtitling. To join, send "subscribe sFont-L firstname last" (no subject) to listserv@american.edu
Mailing list (created by the W3 Consortium) about fonts on the web - now and in the future. Beware... some subscribers have had difficulty leaving this list. To join, send "subscribe" (no subject) to www-font-request@w3.org
Donald Knuth's type design system. Sadly a dormant (unmoderated) list, reflecting the small number of active Metafont users. To join, send "sub METAFONT firstname lastname" (no subject) to listserv@ens.fr
NEWSGROUPS
Regarding the type-related newsgroups on Usenet, this exchange took place on the TYPO-L mailing list in January 1999...
Roy Preston: What *is* comp.fonts?'comp.fonts'Hrant Papazian: From what I've heard, it's the Sodom & Gomorrah of the font world.
Gunars Lucans: Actually, alt.binaries.fonts is reputed to be the Sodom & Gomorrah of the font world; comp.fonts is merely its local newspaper.
Ask your fonty questions of the experts assembled here, or simply lurk and learn. In an ideal world, you'd would have visited the newsgroup's homepage and browsed through Norm Walsh's FAQ from August 1996 before posting, but that's a long time ago and comp.fonts has been taken over by barbarians. Still, please don't post fonts here, even free ones (see alt.binaries.fonts).
Sadly, this once great newsgroup is a shadow of its former self. It's usually inundated with requests for "the X-files font" and the like, and has suffered the mind-numbingly, incessantly, truly, madly, deeply self-righteous pseudo-justifications of font pirates. While he awaited the verdict of the court (he was sued by Adobe and Emigre), one of these insidiously claimed to be nobly within the law, making available to the American people "letters they already own". He lost. The herd that says "fonts (like all software) should be free" is still around, however.
'alt.binaries.fonts'
Public domain and shareware font files are posted here, rather than comp.fonts (which is a discussion group). Of course, you should not assume that the fonts on alt.binaries.fonts are there legally: if in doubt, don't use them (they may make you impotent). There's an FAQ, maintained by P. Brady Hargrove.
'macromedia.fontographer'
Maintained and monitored by genuine ex-Altsys folks at Macromedia, this newsgroup offers support on using Fontographer. Expect no sympathy if you've "lost" your manual!
CompuServe DTP Forum
[GO DTPFOR from CompuServe]
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