From Craig_Dedo@execpc.com Tue May 23 20:32:17 2000 Received: from mailgw02.execpc.com (sendmail@mailgw02.execpc.com [169.207.3.78]) by dkuug.dk (8.9.2/8.9.2) with ESMTP id UAA64970 for ; Tue, 23 May 2000 20:32:16 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from Craig_Dedo@execpc.com) Received: from execpc.com (d79.as3.nwbl1.wi.voyager.net [169.207.85.207]) by mailgw02.execpc.com (8.9.1) id NAA09251 for ; Tue, 23 May 2000 13:32:07 -0500 Message-ID: <392ACE58.596D12D7@execpc.com> Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 13:30:48 -0500 From: "Craig T. Dedo" Reply-To: "Craig T. Dedo" Organization: Elmbrook Computer Services X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.72 [en] (WinNT; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: WG5 Mailing List Subject: Re: (SC22WG5.1809) Word or PDF for distributing WG5 documents References: <200005231759.TAA64849@dkuug.dk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Phillip Helbig wrote: > Van Snyder wrote: > > > Lawrie Schonfelder wrote: > > > > > Everyone can read pdf, the reader is freely available, but you need > > > relatively expensive prorietry software ... to create it. > > > > pdflatex is free. I would be very surprised if there is no Windows > > version of it. > > Ahhh, but you're assuming everyone uses LaTeX. Personally, I think > LaTeX etc is the best system---it runs on every platform and produces > efficient, platform-independent output and can easily be converted to > PostScript, PDF (with working hypertext links), HTML etc. However, WORD > proponents are unlikely to know LaTeX. Let me also play devil's advocate. Well, I have never used any form of LaTeX or its predecessors. Personally, I prefer standard, mainline business office productivity software for word processing and related activities, instead of the more esoteric products that often are favored by academia and the techie crowd. No, I really don't like MS Word. I much prefer WordPerfect. The major disadvantage of formats such as PostScript or PDF is that they are essentially read-only formats. It is very difficult or impossible to import them into WordPerfect or anything similar so that you have an editable document. In contrast, it is a fairly simple and straightforward matter to import documents in MS Word, RTF, or other word processing document formats into the word processor of your choice. Adobe's quoted price for the full Acrobat is $250. This is more than enough money to buy a complete office suite from any of the major vendors as a competitive upgrade. Yes, there are serious problems with Word macro viruses. However, it is fairly simple and straightforward to protect yourself against them. And, if you use a word processor other than MS Word, the Word viruses almost always don't translate into the target document format. -- ---------- Sincerely, Craig T. Dedo Internet: Craig_Dedo@execpc.com Elmbrook Computer Services Voice Phone: (262) 783-5869 17130 W. Burleigh Place Fax Phone: (262) 783-5928 Brookfield, WI 53005-2759 Disclaimer: These opinions are mine alone. USA They do NOT represent any organization. "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin (1759)