Actually using <links> is far faster because it allows for parallel downloads. If you use @include - first the browser has to download the first CSS file then download the @included file.
I checked the size and content of the above CSS file and you could try saving the CSS contents to something like /assets/css/font-awesome.css then echo the contents like this:
It is worth noting that the CSS file has numerous links with parameters such as …/fonts/fontawesome-webfont.eot?v=4.6.3’) which will prevent caching for subsequent pages!
I would be tempted to find an alternative solution
I compile everything into a main styles.min.css file based on all my assets/sass so, the ideal approach would be to add font-awesome.css into the mix so it also gets added into the final styles.min.css
Would it be better to do it this way?
Or are you saying we should add it inline?
And wondering how much weight I will save, meaning will the page load faster if I do this?