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It seems worth mentioning that plaintext is discussed here as the storage / source format. That doesn't mean it has to be the distribution / consumption format

It seems worth mentioning that plaintext is discussed here as the storage / source format. That doesn't mean it has to be the distribution / consumption format. One of the great things about something like Markdown is that it can be rendered to HTML trivially, to display video, equations, etc. Same thing for ebooks, PDFs, whatever (thanks Pandoc!). It's also easy to translate between formats (e.g. .md, .org, .rst, etc.). If a new format comes along that everyone wants, there's an extremely good chance that plain text can be rendered to it. The reverse is not true.

analog31 9y ago
A thought occurs to me about source versus consumption formats. It would seem to me that source code should be the distribution format. That way, the recipient can choose their own preferred consumption format. When I first heard about HTML, described in some magazine article, it was touted as a way to give people a chance to have their own unique readers. For instance, a blind person might want to have their own HTML reader, that uses the hierarchy of header tags to help them navigate the document. Today, my impression is that HTML and its successors are treated more like a general purpose programming language intended to drive visual-specific browsers. This is why we have to create target specific web pages (e.g., mobile and desktop), rather than let each target's browser render generic pages.
- gkya 9y ago
  That's nice and all but in a classroom you want to be able to say "open page n". Anything else causes terrible confusion.
  - analog31 9y ago
    That's a good point. I suppose there has to be at least a preferred distribution format that everybody has access to.
- confounded 9y ago
  Multiple formats can be available for distribution. I think that web pages make a sensible default, but having the option to take an ebook and whack it on an e-reader, or open the source in an editor (e.g. to run code snippets yourself) is great.
- collinmanderson 9y ago
  Yes, browsers used to have "user style sheets" where you insert style rules for how big you wanted text to be, etc. https://dbaron.org/css/user/ https://dbaron.org/css/user/

analog31 9y ago

A thought occurs to me about source versus consumption formats. It would seem to me that source code should be the distribution format. That way, the recipient can choose their own preferred consumption format. When I first heard about HTML, described in some magazine article, it was touted as a way to give people a chance to have their own unique readers. For instance, a blind person might want to have their own HTML reader, that uses the hierarchy of header tags to help them navigate the document. Today, my impression is that HTML and its successors are treated more like a general purpose programming language intended to drive visual-specific browsers. This is why we have to create target specific web pages (e.g., mobile and desktop), rather than let each target's browser render generic pages.

gkya 9y ago
That's nice and all but in a classroom you want to be able to say "open page n". Anything else causes terrible confusion.
- analog31 9y ago
  That's a good point. I suppose there has to be at least a preferred distribution format that everybody has access to.
confounded 9y ago
Multiple formats can be available for distribution. I think that web pages make a sensible default, but having the option to take an ebook and whack it on an e-reader, or open the source in an editor (e.g. to run code snippets yourself) is great.
collinmanderson 9y ago
Yes, browsers used to have "user style sheets" where you insert style rules for how big you wanted text to be, etc. https://dbaron.org/css/user/ https://dbaron.org/css/user/