On monday, 02. Feb 2009 Karl Berry wrote:
the FSFE has started a campaign on http://pdfreaders.org/
I suggest adding GNU GV to the list -- http://www.gnu.org/software/gv. Like others already on the list, it is a Ghostscript front end.
I'm not directly involved with that campaign. But I send a copy of this mail to feedback@pdfreaders.org
(Why be coy and say "other software"?)
Do you mean that "Additional software may be required to use this program"? I think that is a catch-all. Some Windows ports require Cygwin for example.
I was surprised to see another package named "Yap". The Yap I knew has been the DVI viewer for Windows included in the MiKTeX distribution for many years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YAP mentions both. Anyway.
Seems that gv is a frontend for Ghostscript, and that gv is for Unix only.
In my opinion we have enough readers for the Unix platforms listed, what do you mean?
HennR
list@akfoerster.de schrieb:
On monday, 02. Feb 2009 Karl Berry wrote:
the FSFE has started a campaign on http://pdfreaders.org/
I suggest adding GNU GV to the list -- http://www.gnu.org/software/gv. Like others already on the list, it is a Ghostscript front end.
I'm not directly involved with that campaign. But I send a copy of this mail to feedback@pdfreaders.org
(Why be coy and say "other software"?)
Do you mean that "Additional software may be required to use this program"? I think that is a catch-all. Some Windows ports require Cygwin for example.
I was surprised to see another package named "Yap". The Yap I knew has been the DVI viewer for Windows included in the MiKTeX distribution for many years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YAP mentions both. Anyway.
Hi,
HennR hennr@fsfe.org writes:
In my opinion we have enough readers for the Unix platforms listed, what do you mean?
yes. Especially for free operating systems we had a lot of free PDF readers. Deciding whether we list it or not should also be based on usability and quality. It doesn't make sense to add any exotic PDF readers someone has somewhen written just because the reader is Free Software.
Otherwise i fear we will lose the "normal users" and they are our main target.
best wishes, Björn
Hi Björn,
* Bjoern Schiessle schiessle@fsfe.org [2009-02-03 11:17:02 +0100]:
HennR hennr@fsfe.org writes:
In my opinion we have enough readers for the Unix platforms listed, what do you mean?
yes. Especially for free operating systems we had a lot of free PDF readers. Deciding whether we list it or not should also be based on usability and quality. It doesn't make sense to add any exotic PDF readers someone has somewhen written just because the reader is Free Software.
I am not entirely sure about that. I see the points, and for example I would not add all those mobile plattforms. On the other hand it might be good for users to see that you have much more choice on Free Software operating systems than on non-free operating systems.
So I am not sure about that. I would be fine to add any Free Software pdf reader. Else we need a good policy which readers we add and which we don't add.
Best wishes, Matthias
Hi Matthias,
Matthias Kirschner mk@fsfe.org writes:
yes. Especially for free operating systems we had a lot of free PDF readers. Deciding whether we list it or not should also be based on usability and quality. It doesn't make sense to add any exotic PDF readers someone has somewhen written just because the reader is Free Software.
I am not entirely sure about that. I see the points, and for example I would not add all those mobile plattforms. On the other hand it might be good for users to see that you have much more choice on Free Software operating systems than on non-free operating systems.
yes, showing the great choice people have with Free Software is an good argument.
But on the other hand i fear that having a to large list of readers the "average user" will either get confused or will pick a bad PDF reader (with bad i mean bad in quality or/and usability) and will disappointed move back to Adobe.
So i think we have to find a balance between showing the great choice and keep the list as useful as possible for the "average user".
I would prefer a list where i can say with a clear conscience to every user: "Here you have the choice between many great readers just take one of them. They are all good and will satisfy your needs."
So I am not sure about that. I would be fine to add any Free Software pdf reader. Else we need a good policy which readers we add and which we don't add.
That would be probably the hardest part. How to tell users and developers of a free PDF reader why we don't want to list it at this point of time.
So we would definitely have a good policy. But i think we shouldn't forget what most people probably searching for and this is a replacement for Adobe and not a fancy terminal-pdf-viewer (just an example). People interested in this kind of viewers are probably enough geek to know how to get it.
best wishes, Björn
Hi.
Bjoern Schiessle schrieb:
Hi Matthias,
But on the other hand i fear that having a to large list of readers the "average user" will either get confused or will pick a bad PDF reader (with bad i mean bad in quality or/and usability) and will disappointed move back to Adobe.
That a good point either.
And I would say that it makes more sense to present the most common readers that are available for Unix, instead of listing every esoteric reader available.
That has also the advantage that the list will be kept minimal, and our visitors can use the site straight forward.
Greetings
HennR
* Bjoern Schiessle schiessle@fsfe.org [2009-02-03 12:34:38 +0100]:
So we would definitely have a good policy. But i think we shouldn't forget what most people probably searching for and this is a replacement for Adobe and not a fancy terminal-pdf-viewer (just an example). People interested in this kind of viewers are probably enough geek to know how to get it.
Just posted one. Let's continue the thread there. I think the "actively maintained" as IIRC proposed by Henner on the phone should keep the number low :)
Best wishes, Matthias