hi Sam,
* Sam Tuke samtuke@fsfe.org [2011-07-19 14:26:13 +0100]:
I think that it is wonderful that you are supporting Open Standards, such as PDF itself (ISO 32000-1) as well as the subset standards that have been developed against it (PDF/A, PDF/X, etc.).
However, you also seem to be promoting the use of PDF readers that do NOT support those standards that you've mentioned. NONE of the PDF readers that are promoted by the FSFE support ANY of those standards :(. Sure, they may read SOME set of PDF files, but they do NOT do it correctly (aka "as defined in the standard").
As such, perhaps your "sprint" would be more constructive in contacting and/or contributing to the open source projects in their support of open standards.
Leonard Rosenthol ISO Project Leader, PDF/A and PDF/E
I would go for: How should they be good if all government websites only advertise the other product for several years? If more people know about them and support them, they will improve.
But we also encourage people to participate in the development and with our activities we inform more people about the existence of them.
Regards, Matthias
My reply (posted here: http://madlab.org.uk/content/stamp-out-the-ads-free- software-pdf-reader-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-82529)
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Thanks for commenting Leonard.
One of the purposes of the event is indeed to promote Open Standards, and you’re right that the availability of complete implementations of the various PDF ISO standards in Free Software could be much improved. This event is part of the larger PDF Readers campaign, which is in contact with the developers of Free Software PDF Readers, provides assistance (such as translations) where available, and promotes the GNU PDF project which aims to create a standards compliant set of reader and writer libraries.
However the situation regarding the ISO standards is a complex one, and Free Software PDF readers are suitable for the needs of of most people in most cases, which is as much as can be said of any proprietary PDF reader. Whilst we would much prefer greater standards compliance of the Free Software readers, and will continue to work towards this, using such readers offers real benefits to users now in terms of the freedoms that they protect. This being the case, requesting that governments cease advertising of proprietary readers is a valid goal for the sprint to pursue.
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Sam.
Hi Sam,
* Sam Tuke samtuke@fsfe.org [2011-07-19 14:44:38 +0100]:
My reply (posted here: http://madlab.org.uk/content/stamp-out-the-ads-free- software-pdf-reader-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-82529)
[...]
Good reply.
Thanks, Matthias
On 19/07/2011 16:34, Matthias Kirschner wrote:
Hi Sam,
- Sam Tuke samtuke@fsfe.org [2011-07-19 14:44:38 +0100]:
My reply (posted here: http://madlab.org.uk/content/stamp-out-the-ads-free- software-pdf-reader-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-82529)
[...]
Good reply.
Very good reply!