[OS X TeX] Re: Worrying about MS (was Keeping this list healthy)

[Alain Schremmer]

Victor Ivrii wrote:

> On 12/14/06, Adam Goldstein <adam.goldstein at jhu.edu> wrote:
>
>> [snip]
>> > It is all the more unacceptable to me as all you needed to do was just
>> > to copy-paste your document into your email as plain text or, should
>> > you have felt that its formatting was essential, to save it as RTF,
>> > PDF or HTML, all non-proprietary formats, before attaching it.
>> >
>> [snip]
>>
>> Aren't PDF and RTF both proprietary, even though the standards are 
>> published? I was under the impression that RTF was created by MS.
>> I suppose one issue is, what is required to read it properly? In this 
>> case, of course, RTF and PDF readers are widely available. They are 
>> not therefore non-proprietary, public, or free "as in freedom".
>>
>
> Not only readers are free but also there are free writers and not from
> Adobe or MS respectively. Also RTF seems to be completely fixed and
> PDF1.6 as well (I am sure even PDF1.7 is fixed but just trying to be
> cautious; still pdftex 1.30 so far creates PDF1.4 and pdf 1.40
> (reached rc-2) creates  PDF1.5 even if one can make files properly
> displayed by AR7.05 and above).
>
> One needs to distinguish between PDF and RTF. There are plenty of
> full-featured RTF reader but only one full-featured PDF reader.
>
> In certain sense both RTF and (older) PDF formats live now  their own
> lives, independently on their creators.

So then, what would be an iron-clad wording?

Regards
--schremmer


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