On 06/23/2011 10:13 AM, Marc Paré wrote:
We are essentially saying the same thing. For necessary files where
the ODF cannot be read due to the inability of having LibreOffice
installed to read ODF files then falling back on .pdf's is fine. If
there is a need to create a quick and dirty ODF reader, then we should
put this to the dev's as a project -- a "LibreOffice Reader". We
should not be advocating the use of any other format unless we really
have to. If our documents are so important for a user to want to read,
then they should download our product to read our wonderful manuals.
I expect to see PDF readers on certain platforms long before I see an
ODF reader (iPhone, Android, Kindle, etc), yet I may use those devices
to read my documents when I am away from my computer.
Would love to have a copy of LO that works on my portable platforms, but
I really do not expect it any time soon. Would be nice, however.... I
would rate that as a much lower priority that some other issues in the
software (like say a better macro recorder).
Otherwise, we relegate the ODF (and LibreOffice) to a secondary
position -- there will always be individuals inside our group who will
clamour for a .pdf version to add "universality" to our product line.
This is completely counter-productive. The request for .pdf will never
cease and all of our documentation will be in ODF/PDF versions with no
real reason to fully adopt the ODF format by any user.
Well, off hand, I can download the ODF file, generate the PDF, but then
I must move it through my computer before I move it on to the devices
that do not support ODF. I need to also make certain that you provide
all the fonts that I require and install those. I used to have that
problem with PDFs generated by my employer. They used some strange font
that my computer did not have. I had to install the font before I could
view the document. Need to teach them how to embed the font into a PDF
file.
Worse, corporate adoption of our product will be hard to get if they
will never see the benefits of using our products if they only read it
through .pdf formats for their convenience. It is difficult to issue
accolades to a product that second guesses itself to its intended user
base. If pdf's are so necessary, then people should be looking for a
.pdf office suite as everyone extolls its virtues.
Most of the clients that I see, and even where I work, most of the users
are not given sufficient permissions that they are able to install new
software on their computers. In most cases, documents that I generate
using ODF must be converted to another form for delivery. The only place
you will likely have traction when you say "download this to look at my
documents" is when you generate a document of sufficient interest that
the average user is willing to do so.
I don't think Adobe would ever suggest to anyone else to use a
different format for people to read their manuals, they would of
course tell all to download their reader and to then read their
wonderful manuals.
Easy to shoot holes in most of my concerns as they relates to say LO
documentation, however, because the person who desires LO documentation
likely has LO installed. So, acrobat documentation as a PDF makes sense.
Better not use fonts that the user will not have, however. Consider that
in Gnome 3 they removed the minimize button because the average user
will be confused by it "where did my program go". Off hand, I would say
that if that is true, then it is not reasonable to expect a user to
install much of anything (I must be tired and cranky).
When I am using a computer that is not my own (say at work, at a
library, visiting a neighbor or family) and I want to look up something
in the documentation.... Asking to install a large piece of software is
frequently not an option. I know people that still use dial-up.
We should do the same, as we do have the better format of the two. The
use of .dpf's should be done in a very strategic way and not in a
universally applied fashion.
All of my opinions.
Cheers
Marc
It is not possible to embed fonts in an ODF document, but I can in a PDF
document. Then again, last time I tried to create a PDF/A-1a using LO,
the generated PDF was not usable (it caused my PDF reader to crash).
Last time I tried this with OOo, it worked fine.
--
Andrew Pitonyak
My Macro Document: http://www.pitonyak.org/AndrewMacro.odt
Info: http://www.pitonyak.org/oo.php
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