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A recent experiment: publishing your online stuff as PDF files: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31375013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31375013 The

by marttt 4y ago

A recent experiment: publishing your online stuff as PDF files: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31375013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31375013 The author calls the HTML website -> PDF zine switch "deurbanising the web" in his/her manifesto: PDFs are self-contained, offlineable, files, decentralised, discoverable, independent of browsers, with a tool ecosystem that exists today, open standard, part of the web, page oriented. The manifesto is an insightful read for sure: http://lab6.com/0 http://lab6.com/0 I think I would absolutely love to browse this "PDF internet" if only PDF files were smaller than the typical several megabytes. For that reason, gopherspace and gemini (or casual web with a text-only browser like w3m) seem like a more compelling alternative, but YMMV.

robin_reala 4y ago
Unfortunately PDFs require specialist knowledge to make them accessible, whereas HTML is accessible by default and requires specialist knowledge to fuck it up.
soco 4y ago
Do yo want to download this file? Yes. Open the file? Ok. Then zoom around, more zooming or less depending on the device you are because it's never the right size for your screen. That includes lots of panning around to have the right section on the screen, the smaller the screen the more panning. Page-oriented has value only if you read them on a page - printed or e-ink reader. Otherwise it's just a major hassle which also fills up your downloads folder. Yes, I hate PDFs in 99% of the cases.
tannhaeuser 4y ago
Whatever PDF is, it's surely not the way to unfuck the web given it can embed text-as-pictures, frequently breaks "semantic" (reading) text order, and can contain JavaScript just as a website can. I'm sometimes printing to PDF to even be able to read an article full of autoplay videos, other ads, and trackers. The reason why the web is dying, and will continue to die, is simply JavaScript, a generational/resume-driven desire to venture into the most absurd techniques to make the simplest form work, seizure of the web by Google et al, coupled with a lack of incentives for quality content. And the astonishing foolishness of nerds wanting to turn the web into a reactive-functional mvc showcase or whatever.

by marttt 4y ago

robin_reala 4y ago

Unfortunately PDFs require specialist knowledge to make them accessible, whereas HTML is accessible by default and requires specialist knowledge to fuck it up.

soco 4y ago

Do yo want to download this file? Yes. Open the file? Ok. Then zoom around, more zooming or less depending on the device you are because it's never the right size for your screen. That includes lots of panning around to have the right section on the screen, the smaller the screen the more panning. Page-oriented has value only if you read them on a page - printed or e-ink reader. Otherwise it's just a major hassle which also fills up your downloads folder. Yes, I hate PDFs in 99% of the cases.

tannhaeuser 4y ago

Whatever PDF is, it's surely not the way to unfuck the web given it can embed text-as-pictures, frequently breaks "semantic" (reading) text order, and can contain JavaScript just as a website can. I'm sometimes printing to PDF to even be able to read an article full of autoplay videos, other ads, and trackers. The reason why the web is dying, and will continue to die, is simply JavaScript, a generational/resume-driven desire to venture into the most absurd techniques to make the simplest form work, seizure of the web by Google et al, coupled with a lack of incentives for quality content. And the astonishing foolishness of nerds wanting to turn the web into a reactive-functional mvc showcase or whatever.