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> As for content I'd rather read a PDF than a web site. I'm not a fan of PDFs for content because they're very "static" in that they're really meant to be prin
by badsectoracula 2y ago
> As for content I'd rather read a PDF than a web site.
I'm not a fan of PDFs for content because they're very "static" in that they're really meant to be printed than read on screen.
If i had to pick a favorite format/container that'd be CHM - which is essentially a self-contained offline "web site" with table of contents, search, index and only whatever web tech was available in IE in 1998 or so (which is still more than enough to hang yourself with, but due to the focus on actually being all about a text format, 99.9% of CHM files restrained themselves to basic HTML), which allows for screen-based reading and dynamic layouts (mainly resizing the font, window, etc) and pixel-perfect images.
Though note that i'm using CHM as a "category", e.g. i'd also put Qt's help system, JavaHelp and even GNU info (not to be confused with Texinfo) in the same category (though info is more annoying with its hardwrapped lines, monospace text, use of titles as page names that must be unique and hacked-in support for images that most viewers do not even support).
- hggigg 2y agoThis is not a terrible idea actually. Although PDFs can have structured table of contents :)
- riffraff 2y agohow about epub? I've got no idea how bad or good the format is, but it seems to work quite well for what I've used it, better than PDF in allowing reflow/dynamic oage sizes, but still being a kind of self-contained static web site with search, ToC and index.
- badsectoracula 2y agoLate reply (i just noticed it but i reply in case you also notice it). Epub is basically a zip file of HTML files and an XML to provide some additional metadata (like a contents tree), though like CHM epub files do tend to limit themselves to basic HTML too as a lot of epub readers do not have a full web engine. It is quite similar to CHM though epub readers feel more book-like in their UX.