PDF is great, *if* used correctly. There are a lot of what I'll call "abuses" of the format, due to its versatility -- specifically, having text in an embedded bitmapped graphic. This is what you'd likely get if you scan a document into PDF without OCR software, or receive a PDF version of a fax transmission.
I don't like that, because it might as well be jpg or png. It happens. As an archived document, though, I find it misleading, since you cannot search the contents (without first applying OCR), and similarly, the format used is misleading since I'd expect some context & content therein, but just a graphic. I feel it is a *bit* like Flash in this way -- there are lots of wrong ways to use a tool! :) To answer the original question, though... it depends on what kind of documents you want to archive, and for what purposes you're archiving them. Assuming textual content: If you want them to be readable by future alien-like civilizations, use ASCII. If you want to preserve printable formatting, use PDF. If you want something else, try RTF, ODT, TeX, etc. PDF has full open-source coverage, AFAIK, unless Adobe has continued to release new features. PDF's are being used in the legal industry by both courts and law firms, if that is any indication of their intended lastingness. regards, ben On 6/5/07, Hans Kuhn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Tue, 5 Jun 2007, Brian Gallagher wrote: : I am looking to archive my documents under Linux and I am uncomfortable : about pdf as an open standard. What is the consensus of this group? Brian, If you're looking for data points, the Internet Engineering Task Force (ietf.org) uses PDF and ASCII. PDF is not really that special as it is just postscript with some extensions. Here's one author's thoughts on PDF for scientific publishing: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/publ-tips/#pdf I would be comfortable with PDF despite it's origins as an Adobe product which would normally make me quite nervous. Hans _______________________________________________ EUGLUG mailing list [email protected] http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
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