Is ttx XML formal can be considered a source format?

[Anirban Mitra]

I have created a color variable font [1] using fully open source tools. But
want to make it available in copr.
However as per fedora rules for packaging, font must be compiled from
source. However my open source toolchain consists of creating a python
virtual environment, installing the open source tools like opentypesvg and
nanoemoji in that environment and then convert Fontforge sources into a
color variable font. However such a workflow is not possible in Fedora.
However fonttools ttx files are generated in the process which is XML
representation of the binary font file. My question is can ttx format be
considered source format? If acceptable then fonts can be generated in a
single step using fonttools which is available in Fedora repository.
Dr Anirban Mitra
1. https://github.com/mitradranirban/rangeen

[Akira TAGOH]

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply, I missed this email.

On Tue, Aug 12, 2025 at 8:30 PM Anirban Mitra via fonts
 wrote:
> I have created a color variable font [1] using fully open source tools. But want to make it available in copr.
> However as per fedora rules for packaging, font must be compiled from source. However my open source toolchain consists of creating a python virtual environment, installing the open source tools like opentypesvg and nanoemoji in that environment and then convert Fontforge sources into a color variable font. However such a workflow is not possible in Fedora. However fonttools ttx files are generated in the process which is XML representation of the binary font file. My question is can ttx format be considered source format? If acceptable then fonts can be generated in a single step using fonttools which is available in Fedora repository.

Well, first of all, as mentioned in our guidelines, building a font
from source isn't MUST. They say "Packagers SHOULD build font files
from sources". In fact, there are many packages that ship a binary
because of some uncontrollable circumstances.

Next,  about whether or not ttx format is considered as a source,
there may be various opinions on it though, if there is a toolchain to
build a binary font reproducibly, IMHO I could say it is a source.
That said, I don't know if it is really maintainable as an upstream
though.
> Dr Anirban Mitra
> https://github.com/mitradranirban/rangeen
>
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