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There was a period of time when I thought PDF’s days were numbered. That was over a decade ago. There is now first class support in many applications. I don’t
by netfl0 6y ago
There was a period of time when I thought PDF’s days were numbered. That was over a decade ago.
There is now first class support in many applications. I don’t think it’s going anywhere.
- gogopuppygogo 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF It became open source in 2008 so it’s definitely here to stay.
- geogra4 6y agoIt is a format that doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it an image? Text? Vector graphics? Electronic forms? How about all of the above.
- marcinzm 6y agoIt's basically digital paper and since paper can be all those things so can PDFs.
- giantDinosaur 6y agoCan paper run ad-tracking analytics scripts though? ;-)
- eat_veggies 6y agocan pdf?
- easton 6y agoGiven that PDFs can embed JavaScript, they can embed ad tracking software, yes. And Linux VMs. And a port of WinAmp.
- randomdude402 6y agoI didn't know they could embed javascript. That's horrifying.
- sjy 6y agoI don’t think any of that is possible with the JavaScript APIs exposed (if any) by common PDF readers. I’ve tried to do useful things with JavaScript in a PDF and failed utterly. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/32597283/can-javascript-running-within-a-pdf-access-the-domain-it-was-downloaded-from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/32597283/can-javascript-...
- SSLy 6y agoPaizo uses JS to trigger map layers (for RPG products)
- jcynix 6y agoTracking is one possible problem. The other is, that JavaScript can modify the document itself, so a part of a contract for example might print out differently depending on conditions. That's why PDF/A for archiving was created which disallows various components, cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF%2FA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF%2FA
- mpweiher 6y agoFortunately many PDF viewers don't run them.
- marcinzm 6y agoHave a single copy of the paper in a place with a sign in sheet and now you're tracking everyone who looks at it.
- inquirerofsorts 6y ago> all of the above You forgot malware https://www.thesecurityblogger.com/distributing-malware-inside-adobe-pdf-documents/ https://www.thesecurityblogger.com/distributing-malware-insi...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- jbverschoor 6y agoIt renders properly. HTML doesn't even know if it wants to be an application or a document.
- Finnucane 6y agoIt's pretty much essential to the publishing industry. Until we actually stop printing books, we'll be using pdfs.
- axiolite 6y agoThere's nothing special about PDF. Only reason PDF is useful is because it's easy to convert to/from Postscript and Adobe was pushing out a free viewer for PDFs but not Postscript files. That, and the difference in fees they chose to charge on the formats.
- Finnucane 6y agoThat may be true, but it is so deeply embedded into publishing workflows now it would be hard to dislodge.
- BlueTemplar 6y agoSome in the publishing industry have actually moved to HTML - O'Reilly comes to mind.
- Finnucane 6y agoFor online and authoring, sure. If they print the books, it gets converted to a pdf.
- BlueTemplar 6y agoWhich is what pdfs should be (mostly) restricted to.
- qubex 6y ago> there was a period of time when I thought PDF’s days were numbered And indeed you are correct! A time shall arise, sooner or later in the future, a moment when the last PDF file is created, as well as a moment when a PDF is consulted for the last time. Depending on your definition of format obsolescence, this might be well beyond its expiry date, or it might actually mark the moment of death. (Let’s forget that the Apple lineage of OSes derived from Display PostScript-using NeXTstep such as OS X [latterly macOS], iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and tvOS all use PDF as a mechanism for drawing primitive sources onto the screen.) Anyway... after that long preamble, statements like these remind me very much of Goldfinger’s famous quote, and in honour of Sean Connery’s passing yesterday I will allow myself to elucidate: Bond: “Do you expect me to talk?” Goldfinger: “I expect you to die!” The latter being a very reliable expectation, but one that can sometimes take a lot longer to come true than the utterer might have in mind when they make the assertion.