https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=79811

--- Comment #5 from David Tardon <[email protected]> ---
(In reply to comment #4)
> > > My proposal is that Hybrid PDF is offered as yet another document format 
> > > to
> > > the Save command and even allowing making it default.
> > 
> > I strongly disagree.
> 
> That's obvious, but you have yet to explain why.

All right, so just from the top of my head (so in a random order or
importance):

* It is _slow_. I mean really slow: export to PDF is easily 10 times slower
than save to ODF. Import is slower too, for technical reasons that cannot
easily be changed.

* (I have already said that, but...) There is no way to differentiate between
normal and hybrid PDFs when looking at directory listing.

* Worse yet, there is no way to differentiate between different types of
documents (text, presentations, spreadsheets, ...) That is a major usability
regression compared to using ODF.

* It effectively means that we are creating a new document format, not
supported by anyone else. There is already too many different file formats.
(This alone is a deal breaker for me.)

* It duplicates functionality.

* It creates the perception of PDF as an editable format, which it is not.

I am sure I could come with a few more if I really thought about it.

> > > 
> > > From a formal point of view, since an Hybrid PDF file can be opened in
> > > LibreOffice Writer exactly the same as an ODT file, it shouldn't belong to
> > > the export option.
> > 
> > Wrong. A hybrid PDF is still a PDF. Also, there is _no way_ to differentiate
> > a hybrid PDF from normal PDF except opening it, So these files would not be
> > listed in open dialog.
> 
> Wronng. A Hybrid PDF is a PDF+ODF file. No way to differentiate both is
> irrelevant.

It is very much relevant from usability POV. If I have a directory full of
PDFs, the only way to discover which ones I can edit and which can only be
imported is to actually try to open them.

> 
> > 
> > > Expected behavior:
> > > Hybrid PDF should be like any other document format, working on every
> > > Save/Save As/Save a Copy/etc. commands.
> > 
> > I can already imagine uninformed users trying to use export to PDF instead
> > of normal save in other applications, "because it works in LibreOffice", and
> > losing their work...
> 
> I don't follow this logic. LibreOffice only has to show "This PDF is not
> Hybrid and can't be edited in Writer" when a user trys to open (not import)
> a PDF. That won't happen with internal documents but will probably happen
> with many external ones. 

This was not about LibreOffice at all. I was talking about uninformed users
being misled into belief that PDFs can be edited in LibreOffice and losing
their work created in _other_ applications as a consequence.

> Besides, nothing prevents HybridPDFs to be shown
> with a different icon so you know which are Hybrid and which aren't.

Nothing except the fact that the only way to recognize a hybrid PDF is to open
it. That is slow even locally if there is more than a few dozens of files, not
mentioning doing it for a remote folder. Also, this would only work in
LibreOffice's internal file dialog, not if the system one is used.

> 
> Just ouf of curiosity: what's your opinion on Hybrid PDFs? You just seem to
> hate them for no reason. Your overly agressive reply is way out of line.

I have nothing about hybrid PDF. I recognize its value for having a PDF export
of a document that can still be opened for editing, if necessary. But it is
still a PDF and nothing is going to change that.

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