Hi all,
I read this article today which says that F-Secure asks MS to create a simple pdf reader to get rid of security holes in adobe's.
(German) http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/F-Secure-Microsoft-bitte-einen-einfac...
Should/could we use this call and profit as pdfreaders.org?
Greets, Henner
On Monday 03 May 2010 19:42:00 Jan-Hendrik "HennR" Peters wrote:
Hi all,
I read this article today which says that F-Secure asks MS to create a simple pdf reader to get rid of security holes in adobe's.
(German) http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/F-Secure-Microsoft-bitte -einen-einfachen-PDF-Viewer-992087.html
Should/could we use this call and profit as pdfreaders.org?
Yes, absolutely.
Surely such a reader already exists for Windows, not to mention other operating systems?
If you can get it out tomorrow, we can still catch some of the attention.
How about drafting a short press release? Core points could be
- F-Secure is right -- there's too much bloat in PDF readers (I think Adobe Reader recently was named the top security hole)
- Free PDF readers are the solution. They're widely available, don't cost anything, are easy to install, and they're free -- they can offer quick patches, because there's no vendor losing prestige and no "patch day" to adhere to.
- pdfreaders.org helps users to find the right reader.
Best regards, Karsten
/who has a soft spot for xpdf
Hi Karsten.
The problem is that we only have one good pdf reader for windows to recommend.
That's evince, which comes in a outdated version without an auto-update function.
The only thing pdfreaders.org makes right is to get different readers on the market which won't be affected by the same security hole.
Greets, Henner
On 03.05.2010 20:46, Karsten Gerloff wrote:
On Monday 03 May 2010 19:42:00 Jan-Hendrik "HennR" Peters wrote:
Hi all,
I read this article today which says that F-Secure asks MS to create a simple pdf reader to get rid of security holes in adobe's.
(German) http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/F-Secure-Microsoft-bitte -einen-einfachen-PDF-Viewer-992087.html
Should/could we use this call and profit as pdfreaders.org?
Yes, absolutely.
Surely such a reader already exists for Windows, not to mention other operating systems?
If you can get it out tomorrow, we can still catch some of the attention.
How about drafting a short press release? Core points could be
- F-Secure is right -- there's too much bloat in PDF readers (I
think Adobe Reader recently was named the top security hole)
- Free PDF readers are the solution. They're widely available,
don't cost anything, are easy to install, and they're free -- they can offer quick patches, because there's no vendor losing prestige and no "patch day" to adhere to.
- pdfreaders.org helps users to find the right reader.
Best regards, Karsten
/who has a soft spot for xpdf
Oops,
I was wrong. Evince comes in the latest version for windows.
My Debian unstable uses an older version :(
On 03.05.2010 21:25, Jan-Hendrik "HennR" Peters wrote:
Hi Karsten.
The problem is that we only have one good pdf reader for windows to recommend.
That's evince, which comes in a outdated version without an auto-update function.
The only thing pdfreaders.org makes right is to get different readers on the market which won't be affected by the same security hole.
Greets, Henner
On 03.05.2010 20:46, Karsten Gerloff wrote:
On Monday 03 May 2010 19:42:00 Jan-Hendrik "HennR" Peters wrote:
Hi all,
I read this article today which says that F-Secure asks MS to create a simple pdf reader to get rid of security holes in adobe's.
(German) http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/F-Secure-Microsoft-bitte -einen-einfachen-PDF-Viewer-992087.html
Should/could we use this call and profit as pdfreaders.org?
Yes, absolutely.
Surely such a reader already exists for Windows, not to mention other operating systems?
If you can get it out tomorrow, we can still catch some of the attention.
How about drafting a short press release? Core points could be
- F-Secure is right -- there's too much bloat in PDF readers (I
think Adobe Reader recently was named the top security hole)
- Free PDF readers are the solution. They're widely available,
don't cost anything, are easy to install, and they're free -- they can offer quick patches, because there's no vendor losing prestige and no "patch day" to adhere to.
- pdfreaders.org helps users to find the right reader.
Best regards, Karsten
/who has a soft spot for xpdf
Pdfreaders mailing list Pdfreaders@lists.fsfe.org https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/pdfreaders
On Monday 03 May 2010 21:40:08 Jan-Hendrik "HennR" Peters wrote:
Oops,
I was wrong. Evince comes in the latest version for windows.
ok, so that's:
- pdfreaders.org provides an overview of the numerous free PDF readers out there. There are free solutions available for Windows. All people need to do is start using them.
- F-Secure is right -- there's too much bloat in PDF readers
(I
think Adobe Reader recently was named the top security hole)
- Free PDF readers are the solution. They're widely
available,
don't cost anything, are easy to install, and they're free -- they can offer quick patches, because there's no vendor losing prestige and no "patch day" to adhere to.
Best regards, Karsten
Hi again.
On 03.05.2010 21:53, Karsten Gerloff wrote:
On Monday 03 May 2010 21:40:08 Jan-Hendrik "HennR" Peters wrote:
Oops,
I was wrong. Evince comes in the latest version for windows.
ok, so that's:
- pdfreaders.org provides an overview of the numerous free PDF readers out there. There are free solutions available for Windows. All people need to do is start using them.
Kinda right, but we still have no auto updater in evince.
I contacted the evince devs and asked them about continuous updates of evince. There also already a bug filed regarding the auto updater.
When the auto updater is released we can make a press release advertising a free and secure pdf readers. As long as we have no auto updater we can't say that this reader brings more security to the windows world.
Sorry Karsten, I am tired and ill. I will go to bed soon.
I'm on the list for the auto updater now and as soon as it get's released we should make a press release.
Bye, Henner
On Monday 03 May 2010 22:07:50 Jan-Hendrik "HennR" Peters wrote:
Hi again.
On 03.05.2010 21:53, Karsten Gerloff wrote:
On Monday 03 May 2010 21:40:08 Jan-Hendrik "HennR" Peters
wrote:
Oops,
I was wrong. Evince comes in the latest version for windows.
ok, so that's:
- pdfreaders.org provides an overview of the numerous free
PDF readers out there. There are free solutions available for Windows. All people need to do is start using them.
Kinda right, but we still have no auto updater in evince.
Ok, if we don't have a convincing story, it's not worth to put time into preparing a PR.
Thanks for trying, though -- this is exactly the process where good ideas become stronger. So it was definitely worth thinking about.
I contacted the evince devs and asked them about continuous updates of evince. There also already a bug filed regarding the auto updater.
When the auto updater is released we can make a press release advertising a free and secure pdf readers. As long as we have no auto updater we can't say that this reader brings more security to the windows world.
We should be careful not to be seen favouring one project or another.
A release saying "FSFE says: Evince is great" would probably get us lots of complaints from Okular etc. developers.
Can we think of an angle that's more along the lines "Try a Free Software PDF reader on Windows today"?
Sorry Karsten, I am tired and ill. I will go to bed soon.
No problem! ok, rest and get well! Thanks for the effort you've put in. Best regards, Karsten
Hey.
On 03.05.2010 22:17, Karsten Gerloff wrote:
- pdfreaders.org provides an overview of the numerous free
PDF readers out there. There are free solutions available for Windows. All people need to do is start using them.
Kinda right, but we still have no auto updater in evince.
Ok, if we don't have a convincing story, it's not worth to put time into preparing a PR.
Thanks for trying, though -- this is exactly the process where good ideas become stronger. So it was definitely worth thinking about.
Yep.
I contacted the evince devs and asked them about continuous updates of evince. There also already a bug filed regarding the auto updater.
When the auto updater is released we can make a press release advertising a free and secure pdf readers. As long as we have no auto updater we can't say that this reader brings more security to the windows world.
We should be careful not to be seen favouring one project or another.
A release saying "FSFE says: Evince is great" would probably get us lots of complaints from Okular etc. developers.
Oh yes, that right.
Can we think of an angle that's more along the lines "Try a Free Software PDF reader on Windows today"?
Yep, that's a good idea. We don't have to mention (in the same sentence) that evince is the only recommended reader on the site ;)
Sorry Karsten, I am tired and ill. I will go to bed soon.
No problem! ok, rest and get well! Thanks for the effort you've put in.
Thanks.
Henner
Hey again.
I got feedback from the evince hackers.
There is only one person maintaining the windows port.
He releases new installers for new major versions of evince. He will probably release new version of the installer if evince itself contains security holes. He does not monitor evince' dependencies for security issues and will therefore not build a new release if a dependency of evince contains security lacks :(
What should we do with this?
There is a bug report filed to add an auto-updater to evince in windows but there is no progress on that feature :(
I thought about filing a new feature request via www.cofundos.org for evince to include an auto updater.
I would pay 10€ for it, is there anyone else willing to do so?
Have a nice weekend, Henner
On 03.05.2010 22:24, Jan-Hendrik "HennR" Peters wrote:
Hey.
On 03.05.2010 22:17, Karsten Gerloff wrote:
- pdfreaders.org provides an overview of the numerous free
PDF readers out there. There are free solutions available for Windows. All people need to do is start using them.
Kinda right, but we still have no auto updater in evince.
Ok, if we don't have a convincing story, it's not worth to put time into preparing a PR.
Thanks for trying, though -- this is exactly the process where good ideas become stronger. So it was definitely worth thinking about.
Yep.
I contacted the evince devs and asked them about continuous updates of evince. There also already a bug filed regarding the auto updater.
When the auto updater is released we can make a press release advertising a free and secure pdf readers. As long as we have no auto updater we can't say that this reader brings more security to the windows world.
We should be careful not to be seen favouring one project or another.
A release saying "FSFE says: Evince is great" would probably get us lots of complaints from Okular etc. developers.
Oh yes, that right.
Can we think of an angle that's more along the lines "Try a Free Software PDF reader on Windows today"?
Yep, that's a good idea. We don't have to mention (in the same sentence) that evince is the only recommended reader on the site ;)
Sorry Karsten, I am tired and ill. I will go to bed soon.
No problem! ok, rest and get well! Thanks for the effort you've put in.
Thanks.
Henner
Pdfreaders mailing list Pdfreaders@lists.fsfe.org https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/pdfreaders
Hi Henner,
* Jan-Hendrik HennR Peters hennr@fsfe.org [2010-05-22 20:02:39 +0200]:
I thought about filing a new feature request via www.cofundos.org for evince to include an auto updater.
Yes that would be good. Than we could write a blog entry and point to that project.
Best wishes, Matthias
On Monday 03 May 2010 21:25:05 Jan-Hendrik "HennR" Peters wrote:
Hi Karsten.
The problem is that we only have one good pdf reader for windows to recommend.
That's evince, which comes in a outdated version without an auto-update function.
The only thing pdfreaders.org makes right is to get different readers on the market which won't be affected by the same security hole.
Ah, ok! That makes the story a bit weaker. What should our main message be, then?
- the situation for Free Software PDF readers on Windows could be better. Any PDF readers developed for Windows should be Free Software.
- pdfreaders.org shows that there are many free high-quality PDF readers. Use it to pick yours.
This still isn't too compelling. Can you come up with a better angle?
Best regards, Karsten