4 ms·

They probably want to eliminate an attack vector. Removing PostScript support from WebKit/Safari seems like the right decision in light of PostScript’s waning r

They probably want to eliminate an attack vector. Removing PostScript support from WebKit/Safari seems like the right decision in light of PostScript’s waning relevance as a publishing format. Not sure about EPS - last I used it was for vector graphics within LaTeX documents. That was in the early 2000s. I am sure that applications targeting designers will integrate alternatives like Ghostscript soon enough.

kergonath 3y ago
> Not sure about EPS - last I used it was for vector graphics within LaTeX documents. That was in the early 2000s. People really should use pdflatex at the very least now. The original latex has too many issues and quirks.
- readams 3y ago
  pdflatex doesn't really help here. pdflatex allows you to bypass dvi, the native TeX output format. The input for latex may well still include eps image files though.
  - stephen_g 3y ago
    True. Of course you can still use EPS, you just have to find another program to view them in. And isn’t there a tool in most TeX pakages that can convert it to PDF, then you should be able to use that at as an input if it makes it easier? I used to use PDF because you could easily export them from Illustrator and suck them straight in to xelatex or pdflatex (but this was years ago, so I can’t remember all the specifics)
  - kergonath 3y ago
    With pdflatex you can also directly use pdf files for things like figures, whilst standard latex requires postscript files. At least it was the case when it mattered to me, now I mostly moved to LuaLaTeX anyway for other reasons.
- jabl 3y ago
  When I was in academia, I was among the first in our department that moved from latex to pdflatex. One of my motivations was that (E)PS files could be huge, particularly for bitmap graphics, whereas pdflatex supports PNG and JPEG as well as compression of PDF itself. That helped a lot when disk quotas at the time were very limited.
- BrandonS113 3y ago
  I disagree, there are at least 2 reasons why eps can be better. a) you can exactly match the fonts in an eps figure to a latex file, which will look much better. b) you can use \psfrag to change text to get proper mathematics in figures, like gamma2 in an eps becomes $\gamma^2$ c) maybe also, the pstricks package is very nice, but does not work with pdflatex if pdflatex could do both, I would switch today but
  - kergonath 3y ago
    Good points.
cachvico 3y ago
An attack vector, or a vector attack?
- mtmail 3y ago
  Attack vector (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_vector https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_vector)
  - tambourine_man 3y ago
    I think it was a joke.
  - wlonkly 3y ago
    Vector (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics) attack!
- hamburglar 3y ago
  A vector attack vector.
  - kstrauser 3y ago
    Roger, Roger.
    - choeger 3y ago
      Git clearance, Clarence.
wsh 3y ago
Security was Microsoft’s stated reason for a similar change in 2017, when they removed the ability to insert EPS images into Microsoft Office documents: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/support-for-eps-images-has-been-turned-off-in-office-a069d664-4bcf-415e-a1b5-cbb0c334a840 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/support-for-eps-i...
einr 3y ago
EPS is definitely still in semi-common use in the graphic design & printing industry. It has been replaced by PDF as an export and interchange format but you will still come across tons of (legacy) EPS logos and assets from companies that get included in documents all the time. But generally you would be using Adobe’s stuff for this work, so OS-level support is less important.
- chasil 3y ago
  I recently retooled a corporate document pipeline to use FPDF. This library doesn't natively support anything other than PNG, but there is a small superclass that has been contributed to add EPS functionality. I actually pulled an SVG copy of the required corporate logos and converted them to EPS with Inkscape. Oddly, I had to save them upside-down, then edit the comments in the preamble to more closely match Adobe Illustrator before they would render properly. I also tried TCPDF, but I found odd reliability problems.

kergonath 3y ago

> Not sure about EPS - last I used it was for vector graphics within LaTeX documents. That was in the early 2000s. People really should use pdflatex at the very least now. The original latex has too many issues and quirks.

readams 3y ago
pdflatex doesn't really help here. pdflatex allows you to bypass dvi, the native TeX output format. The input for latex may well still include eps image files though.
- stephen_g 3y ago
  True. Of course you can still use EPS, you just have to find another program to view them in. And isn’t there a tool in most TeX pakages that can convert it to PDF, then you should be able to use that at as an input if it makes it easier? I used to use PDF because you could easily export them from Illustrator and suck them straight in to xelatex or pdflatex (but this was years ago, so I can’t remember all the specifics)
- kergonath 3y ago
  With pdflatex you can also directly use pdf files for things like figures, whilst standard latex requires postscript files. At least it was the case when it mattered to me, now I mostly moved to LuaLaTeX anyway for other reasons.
jabl 3y ago
When I was in academia, I was among the first in our department that moved from latex to pdflatex. One of my motivations was that (E)PS files could be huge, particularly for bitmap graphics, whereas pdflatex supports PNG and JPEG as well as compression of PDF itself. That helped a lot when disk quotas at the time were very limited.
BrandonS113 3y ago
I disagree, there are at least 2 reasons why eps can be better. a) you can exactly match the fonts in an eps figure to a latex file, which will look much better. b) you can use \psfrag to change text to get proper mathematics in figures, like gamma2 in an eps becomes $\gamma^2$ c) maybe also, the pstricks package is very nice, but does not work with pdflatex if pdflatex could do both, I would switch today but
- kergonath 3y ago
  Good points.

cachvico 3y ago

An attack vector, or a vector attack?

mtmail 3y ago
Attack vector (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_vector https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_vector)
- tambourine_man 3y ago
  I think it was a joke.
- wlonkly 3y ago
  Vector (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics) attack!
hamburglar 3y ago
A vector attack vector.
- kstrauser 3y ago
  Roger, Roger.
  - choeger 3y ago
    Git clearance, Clarence.

wsh 3y ago

Security was Microsoft’s stated reason for a similar change in 2017, when they removed the ability to insert EPS images into Microsoft Office documents: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/support-for-eps-images-has-been-turned-off-in-office-a069d664-4bcf-415e-a1b5-cbb0c334a840 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/support-for-eps-i...

einr 3y ago

EPS is definitely still in semi-common use in the graphic design & printing industry. It has been replaced by PDF as an export and interchange format but you will still come across tons of (legacy) EPS logos and assets from companies that get included in documents all the time. But generally you would be using Adobe’s stuff for this work, so OS-level support is less important.

chasil 3y ago
I recently retooled a corporate document pipeline to use FPDF. This library doesn't natively support anything other than PNG, but there is a small superclass that has been contributed to add EPS functionality. I actually pulled an SVG copy of the required corporate logos and converted them to EPS with Inkscape. Oddly, I had to save them upside-down, then edit the comments in the preamble to more closely match Adobe Illustrator before they would render properly. I also tried TCPDF, but I found odd reliability problems.