FSFE launches Free PDF Readers campaign

Disputing the many claims that Adobe Reader is required to open PDF files, the Fellowship of the Free Software Foundation Europe has launched pdfreaders.org, a site dedicated to information about PDF, with links to Free Software PDF readers for all major operating systems. The aim is to show people that they can use their PDF files without sacrificing privacy and freedom, and also to provide an alternative linking point for sites providing information in the format.

The coordinators of pdfreaders.org, Hannes Hauswedell and Jan-Hendrik Peters, are pleased to see the site finally realised. "We have been working on this project for quite some time, and already the response has been amazing", Jan-Hendrik explains. "It has been a very democratic project and we have done our best to involve the community." Hannes adds: "We have received a lot of comments that really helped us making the site better. The communication was all done on mailing lists and the work in progress has been publicly available since the first draft."

As many versions of the Portable Document Format (PDF) qualifies as an open standard, it should come as no surprise that there are many Free Software programs available that can handle the popular format. Despite of this, many sites that offer PDF files for download feature a standard text saying that Adobe Reader is needed to view the files. To counter this, Pdfreaders.org offers alternative buttons in several languages that anyone can use to link to the site. The site itself is currently available in 11 languages and contain general information about PDF, open standards and Free Software as well as an overview of the relevant programs.