When Written: Dec 2011
I expressed concern previously about large companies adding open source code to their chargeable products and then claiming that this added functionally is the reason for the chargeable upgrade. Adobe did this trick recently with PhoneGap the mobile phone emulation software and also with Typekit the technology that promises to make multiple fonts usable on web sites even if those fonts are not installed on the user’s browser.
Both these technologies are open source projects so I was a more than a little concerned to hear that Adobe was ‘acquiring’ them both. Would this make all the hard work done by volunteers unavailable to others who wanted to use them? Would TypeKit become a propriety technology of Adobe only and hence would we be liable to see the death of it? So I asked for clarification from Adobe which arrived too late for my last article. What Adobe said was “Adobe is acquiring PhoneGap Build. The PhoneGap code will remain open source and is being donated by Nitobi to the Apache Software Foundation under a new Apache-branded name.
Adobe is uniquely positioned to help the PhoneGap project reach its full potential through its experience and relationships with designers and developers. That includes both commitment to the open source project as well as bringing PhoneGap Build to a much broader set of customers. In terms of Adobe’s acquisition of Typekit, it will remain a standalone product. Adobe is acquiring the full product line, which consists of three products providing the Typekit solution to different types of customers. Adobe shares Typekit’s vision for making expressive type available anywhere on the web, and is excited about bringing its capabilities to Adobe customers.”
So all is well, currently with these two products and hopefully we can look forward to a greater adoption of TypeKit in browsers, so we can no doubt look forward to web sites covered in a plethora of fonts. I can’t wait !
Article by: Mark Newton
Published in: Mark Newton