From Craig_Dedo@execpc.com Tue Jun 6 05:47:06 2000 Received: from out3.mx.nwbl.wi.voyager.net (IDENT:sendmail@out3.mx.nwbl.wi.voyager.net [169.207.3.79]) by dkuug.dk (8.9.2/8.9.2) with ESMTP id FAA11623 for ; Tue, 6 Jun 2000 05:47:05 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from Craig_Dedo@execpc.com) Received: from execpc.com (d166.as14.nwbl1.wi.voyager.net [169.207.75.40]) by out3.mx.nwbl.wi.voyager.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id WAA05037; Mon, 5 Jun 2000 22:46:21 -0500 Message-ID: <393C7410.90125054@execpc.com> Disposition-Notification-To: "Craig T. Dedo" Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 22:46:24 -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: John Reid CC: SC22WG5@dkuug.dk Subject: Re: (SC22WG5.1823) Nara - use of WORD, WG5 N1384 References: <200006051705.TAA09920@dkuug.dk> Content-Type: multipart/signed; protocol="application/x-pkcs7-signature"; micalg=sha1; boundary="------------ms743299DE38CEF12E1E48A952" This is a cryptographically signed message in MIME format. --------------ms743299DE38CEF12E1E48A952 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear John: John Reid wrote: > Marisa, > > Here is my proposal for the SC22 meeting in Nara. > > Best wishes, > > John Reid. > > ........................................................... > > ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG5 N1384 > > Proposal: That SC22 cease to use Word for document distribution > > John Reid, WG5 Convenor > > Word is not a standard and is unsafe (it provides a mechanism for > the import of viruses). It is not readily available to those running > systems other than Microsoft's. Marisa Peacock reports that she can > easily circulate documents in HTML or PDF instead. > > ......................... > > APPENDIX > > I asked WG5 for comments on this paper. Here is summary of the replies: > OTHER COMMENTS > 4. Craig Dedo: > 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. I am not opposed to the use of MS Word. However, I would prefer it to PDF. I checked Adobe's site and it says nothing about whether the full Acrobat 4.0 can export to any format. From their silence, I guess that the answer is, "No". I did check Acrobat plug-ins. There are some commercial products that do various kinds of data extraction but they are quite expensive, around $200 or so. It looks like my original opinion that PDF is essentially a read-only format still stands. We really need the ability to edit and comment on documents as well as the ability to read and print them. Does anyone know of any free or low-cost tools that can convert PDF files to popular document formats and preserve most or all of the formatting? IMHO, the most important criterion for a document distribution format is that it is faily easily and inexpensively convertible from the SC22 "standard" format into the user's preferred word processor document format. From the way things look right now, MS Word has that capability, but PDF does not. Most of the other popular word processors also have this capability. Does anyone have a better idea than what SC22 is proposing? -- ---------- Sincerely, Craig T. Dedo Internet: Craig_Dedo@execpc.com Elmbrook Computer Services, Inc. Voice Phone: (262) 783-5869 17130 W. Burleigh Place Fax Phone: (262) 783-5928 Brookfield, WI 53005-2759 USA "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin (1759) --------------ms743299DE38CEF12E1E48A952 Content-Type: application/x-pkcs7-signature; name="smime.p7s" Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="smime.p7s" Content-Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 MIIKpAYJKoZIhvcNAQcCoIIKlTCCCpECAQExCzAJBgUrDgMCGgUAMAsGCSqGSIb3DQEHAaCC CDAwggT6MIIEY6ADAgECAhBG4ZWptBYAxojLrCfrLq/JMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBAUAMIHMMRcw FQYDVQQKEw5WZXJpU2lnbiwgSW5jLjEfMB0GA1UECxMWVmVyaVNpZ24gVHJ1c3QgTmV0d29y azFGMEQGA1UECxM9d3d3LnZlcmlzaWduLmNvbS9yZXBvc2l0b3J5L1JQQSBJbmNvcnAuIEJ5 IFJlZi4sTElBQi5MVEQoYyk5ODFIMEYGA1UEAxM/VmVyaVNpZ24gQ2xhc3MgMSBDQSBJbmRp dmlkdWFsIFN1YnNjcmliZXItUGVyc29uYSBOb3QgVmFsaWRhdGVkMB4XDTAwMDMxNDAwMDAw MFoXDTAxMDMxNDIzNTk1OVowggEVMRcwFQYDVQQKEw5WZXJpU2lnbiwgSW5jLjEfMB0GA1UE CxMWVmVyaVNpZ24gVHJ1c3QgTmV0d29yazFGMEQGA1UECxM9d3d3LnZlcmlzaWduLmNvbS9y ZXBvc2l0b3J5L1JQQSBJbmNvcnAuIGJ5IFJlZi4sTElBQi5MVEQoYyk5ODEeMBwGA1UECxMV UGVyc29uYSBOb3QgVmFsaWRhdGVkMTMwMQYDVQQLEypEaWdpdGFsIElEIENsYXNzIDEgLSBO ZXRzY2FwZSBGdWxsIFNlcnZpY2UxFjAUBgNVBAMUDUNyYWlnIFQuIERlZG8xJDAiBgkqhkiG 9w0BCQEWFWNyYWlnX2RlZG9AZXhlY3BjLmNvbTCBnzANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOBjQAwgYkC gYEAw43PVl7mAyQaKBzZ2L83NbgE6EhdKcbP0ha/wnQV63qHlTOvdG7xd8GL5m1f9LgZRbfW Csm4HhLMgtCcx0C/8iVfCWEPIJlmbuYIMKM8eMhKWBpWcPvyJVfOtx038+TInEAbJqCKG32z mfU+6O7fC53BgdSU7IZo4IeblPGiKNsCAwEAAaOCAY8wggGLMAkGA1UdEwQCMAAwgawGA1Ud IASBpDCBoTCBngYLYIZIAYb4RQEHAQEwgY4wKAYIKwYBBQUHAgEWHGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnZl cmlzaWduLmNvbS9DUFMwYgYIKwYBBQUHAgIwVjAVFg5WZXJpU2lnbiwgSW5jLjADAgEBGj1W ZXJpU2lnbidzIENQUyBpbmNvcnAuIGJ5IHJlZmVyZW5jZSBsaWFiLiBsdGQuIChjKTk3IFZl cmlTaWduMBEGCWCGSAGG+EIBAQQEAwIHgDCBhgYKYIZIAYb4RQEGAwR4FnZkNDY1MmJkNjNm MjA0NzAyOTI5ODc2M2M5ZDJmMjc1MDY5YzczNTliZWQxYjA1OWRhNzViYzRiYzk3MDE3NDdk YTVkM2YyMTQxYmVhY2UzOGMyZjg4NzBiYWY2Y2Y0ZGUxMTQ5OTZhMWJhNDdmOWYzZWE0NTBj MDMGA1UdHwQsMCowKKAmoCSGImh0dHA6Ly9jcmwudmVyaXNpZ24uY29tL2NsYXNzMS5jcmww DQYJKoZIhvcNAQEEBQADgYEAZa760CJnD2WGM2L4BFgX6CuhU47i7GHz8Vjjza1snB5aAHsh hBdFtKcMl/X/5TONQh9EEUU6hX+Z7YKkh1R2KPHIJRpoqruKbG9tZ9o/gzuoZ/wJ2ybE4/kU ga2VTk/9calArW7wLssucNg64O/cwEkIK5ZquC+e509hrtgLZSgwggMuMIICl6ADAgECAhEA 0nYujRQMPX2yqCVdr+4NdTANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQIFADBfMQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzEXMBUGA1UE ChMOVmVyaVNpZ24sIEluYy4xNzA1BgNVBAsTLkNsYXNzIDEgUHVibGljIFByaW1hcnkgQ2Vy dGlmaWNhdGlvbiBBdXRob3JpdHkwHhcNOTgwNTEyMDAwMDAwWhcNMDgwNTEyMjM1OTU5WjCB zDEXMBUGA1UEChMOVmVyaVNpZ24sIEluYy4xHzAdBgNVBAsTFlZlcmlTaWduIFRydXN0IE5l dHdvcmsxRjBEBgNVBAsTPXd3dy52ZXJpc2lnbi5jb20vcmVwb3NpdG9yeS9SUEEgSW5jb3Jw LiBCeSBSZWYuLExJQUIuTFREKGMpOTgxSDBGBgNVBAMTP1ZlcmlTaWduIENsYXNzIDEgQ0Eg SW5kaXZpZHVhbCBTdWJzY3JpYmVyLVBlcnNvbmEgTm90IFZhbGlkYXRlZDCBnzANBgkqhkiG 9w0BAQEFAAOBjQAwgYkCgYEAu1pEigQWu1X9A3qKLZRPFXg2uA1Ksm+cVL+86HcqnbnwaLuV 2TFBcHqBS7lIE1YtxwjhhEKrwKKSq0RcqkLwgg4C6S/7wju7vsknCl22sDZCM7VuVIhPh0q/ Gdr5FegPh7Yc48zGmo5/aiSS4/zgZbqnsX7vyds3ashKyAkG5JkCAwEAAaN8MHowEQYJYIZI AYb4QgEBBAQDAgEGMEcGA1UdIARAMD4wPAYLYIZIAYb4RQEHAQEwLTArBggrBgEFBQcCARYf d3d3LnZlcmlzaWduLmNvbS9yZXBvc2l0b3J5L1JQQTAPBgNVHRMECDAGAQH/AgEAMAsGA1Ud DwQEAwIBBjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQIFAAOBgQCIuDc73dqUNwCtqp/hgQFxHpJqbS/28Z3TymQ4 3BuYDAeGW4UVag+5SYWklfEXfWe0fy0s3ZpCnsM+tI6q5QsG3vJWKvozx74Z11NMw73I4xe1 pElCY+zCphcPXVgaSTyQXFWjZSAA/Rgg5V+CprGoksVYasGNAzzrw80FopCubjGCAjwwggI4 AgEBMIHhMIHMMRcwFQYDVQQKEw5WZXJpU2lnbiwgSW5jLjEfMB0GA1UECxMWVmVyaVNpZ24g VHJ1c3QgTmV0d29yazFGMEQGA1UECxM9d3d3LnZlcmlzaWduLmNvbS9yZXBvc2l0b3J5L1JQ QSBJbmNvcnAuIEJ5IFJlZi4sTElBQi5MVEQoYyk5ODFIMEYGA1UEAxM/VmVyaVNpZ24gQ2xh c3MgMSBDQSBJbmRpdmlkdWFsIFN1YnNjcmliZXItUGVyc29uYSBOb3QgVmFsaWRhdGVkAhBG 4ZWptBYAxojLrCfrLq/JMAkGBSsOAwIaBQCggbEwGAYJKoZIhvcNAQkDMQsGCSqGSIb3DQEH ATAcBgkqhkiG9w0BCQUxDxcNMDAwNjA2MDM0NjI0WjAjBgkqhkiG9w0BCQQxFgQUvpPXhKac HJCkoEr57TYZ5SiUFL0wUgYJKoZIhvcNAQkPMUUwQzAKBggqhkiG9w0DBzAOBggqhkiG9w0D AgICAIAwBwYFKw4DAgcwDQYIKoZIhvcNAwICAUAwDQYIKoZIhvcNAwICASgwDQYJKoZIhvcN AQEBBQAEgYA/1UkyfOViXbW7bUW+WsAGHqY1mX3EN1DoP7590f5XNN9mXFDhFPTTjMNzungI ikjC95bQ5EP5z6dV0gyJ/Gp09UQD16CtNDzDi8RCrdHf6uIhosHILZ9sxPXgmF/96/INcr+U 6VWC1PC6CV6Jt2f4f2sWATwqs4alH8ouwkD4kg== --------------ms743299DE38CEF12E1E48A952--