[CLUE-Talk] PDF: Unfit for Human Consumption

[Jed S. Baer]

On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 22:38:42 -0600
Jeffery Cann <fabian at jefferycann.com> wrote:

> > I suspect a lot of folk, many of whom are print-oriented, like the
> > absolute page control that the PDF offers.  Sadly, this is indicative
> > of a simple fact:  these folks do not grok the web.
> 
> I totally disagree (not that I like PDFs particularly).  IMHO, the
> *reason* PDFs became popular is because unlike the browser war bs, you
> can count on a PDF looking the same, no matter which OS you're running.

Uh, not quite. I'd guess if you're running Acrobat reader, then yes. But
I've run across PDF files which did not render the same in
Acroread/xv/Xpdf/gv. I don't remember the specifics, but I do remember
trying to use the other readers, and sadly falling back on Acroread.

jed
-- 
... it is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday
facilitate a police state. -- Bruce Schneier