Fellowship of the 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.

As many versions of the Portable Document Format (PDF) qualifies as an open standard and some even are certified by ISO, 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.