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blayne
Xandrosianding
Joined: 07 Jan 2003
Posts: 650
Location: Lexington Kentucky USA
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 Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:58 pm Post subject: |
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It may be that xandros doesn't want to pay for the software!
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I'm not even sure that's the problem. Open Office is completely open source. Open Office exports documents as PDFs. I think the PDF is well documented as an open standard, even if it is also proprietary to Adobe. It may be that down level PDF specifications are released to the public and Adobe keeps a monopoly on the latest and greatest current version?
Personally, I usually don't want the latest version. I tried to view a PDF on Adobe's site that required Acrobat 7.0, which I don't have. When the whole idea is compatibility, coming out with a new format that breaks compatibility is not a great thing. I'd rather use Open Office to create PDFs that almost everyone can read, rather than create the latest whiz bang PDF with features few people need, that requires everyone to install the latest version of Acrobat.
Newer versions of PDF allow forms that can be filled out, animation, etc. Some of those are neat features, but I'm willing to wait a couple of years until most people already have a version of Acrobat that can use those features. Compatibility first - features second. |
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woodsmoke
Xanalandingdonger
Joined: 30 Jul 2005
Posts: 4970
Location: United States
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| Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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well,
I don't know what version of the adobe reader is on the other side of the other machine...too many machines....!
But, it loads faster than the latest version of windoze... and seems to have a better display....
and it also seems to have a "preview" function which is not in the latest windoze on the left side...but I may be wrong about that...
but Xandros reads .pdf just fine...
ain't xandros great!
woodsmoke
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carbon_unit
Xandrosianding
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Posts: 837
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:21 am Post subject: |
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OK, maybe I was wrong.
My thoughts were that Adobe got all bent out of shape when Microsoft provided PDF export in the new Office beta. So wouldn't they look to make some money when a company uses OpenOffice (free) to create a PDF document (their format) for mass distribution without paying them anything?
Seems like typical corporate behavior to me.
But like I said, maybe I was wrong.
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david wrigley
Xandrosianding
Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 587
Location: England
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 7:32 am Post subject: |
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| Am I missing something here? The delux 3 version already comes with a pdf manual so hopefully will the home premium edition. Its just that I also like a hard copy to browse when i'm not on the computer. Ok I could print a copy of the pdf version but that alot of ink and time. |
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blayne
Xandrosianding
Joined: 07 Jan 2003
Posts: 650
Location: Lexington Kentucky USA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:03 am Post subject: |
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| carbon_unit wrote: |
My thoughts were that Adobe got all bent out of shape when Microsoft provided PDF export in the new Office beta. So wouldn't they look to make some money when a company uses OpenOffice (free) to create a PDF document (their format) for mass distribution without paying them anything?
Seems like typical corporate behavior to me.
But like I said, maybe I was wrong. |
For the last week or so, there has been a lot of confusion about why Adobe and Microsoft weren't getting along on the PDF issue in Vista. After all, Adobe publishes the open PDF standard and encourages everyone to create their own PDF readers and writers. Why would that not apply to Microsoft? There were veiled references to Microsoft anti-trust issues, but no explanation. Ten minutes ago, Adobe released a press statement that provides some much needed clarification.
http://www.itworld.com/Man/2687/060614mspdf
Big surprise. Adobe is worried that Microsoft is trying to "embrace and extend" Adobe's PDF standard, using their de facto standard operating system to hijack Adobe's de facto standard portable document format and turn it into the proprietary Microsoft XPS standard. Microsoft does, after all, have a twenty year history of using their operating system to leverage an advantage in applications and every other aspect of computing, and using that advantage to force people to use closed proprietary Microsoft formats that essentially make every document created the property of Microsoft.
This looks like it's not about charging end users to create or distribute documents, which we could have guessed from the long history of Adobe and PDF. This is about making sure that there will be an open Portable Document Format in two years, and everyone won't need a $500 a year Word license to communicate via some bloated Microsoft proprietary format.
Side note - I received a 16 MB DOC file last week. It was a one page flyer with six small pictures and some text. I opened it in OpenOffice, exported it as a PDF and emailed it back to the sender with a friendly reminder that PDF is an open standard that all computers can freely use. I didn't mention the fact that DOC files change every year or two, to intentionally break compatibility and force people to lease a new upgrade. The PDF was 122 KB, a little less than 1% the size of the DOC file. I'm serious. |
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drl
Xandrosianding
Joined: 20 Jan 2004
Posts: 563
Location: St Paul, Minnesota
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:03 am Post subject: |
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Hi, blayne.
Thanks for the update. That helps explain a lot.
| blayne wrote: |
Side note - I received a 16 MB DOC file last week. It was a one page flyer with six small pictures and some text. I opened it in OpenOffice, exported it as a PDF and emailed it back to the sender with a friendly reminder that PDF is an open standard that all computers can freely use. I didn't mention the fact that DOC files change every year or two, to intentionally break compatibility and force people to lease a new upgrade. The PDF was 122 KB, a little less than 1% the size of the DOC file. I'm serious. |
That's an eye-opener, and thanks for providing that data.
However, for groups that are collaborating (such as my attorney clients), simple PDFs are not easily editable, and so are not suitable for that kind of work, but I'll pass this along to their committees so that they can consider sending final and stable documents in such a form (sigh, it'll be hard breaking habits that seem to work well; most use Windows or Macs) ... cheers, drl
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sqlpython
Xanalandingdonger
Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Posts: 5040
Location: Ct. USA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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Happy to hear Version 4 Broke through for 6/21 but I'm with the Group waiting on Business Edition....
Looking at the features the only feature that interests me is Writing to NTFS.
I hope BE 4 is more feature packed..
But Upgrades to KDE and Libc6 and other such packages if there are enough of those upgrades will be worth the Upgrade. I gets to be tiresome upgrading in "bits and pieces." ...Dave Clark Five (@1965)
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Criticism only accepted for Solutions that work. ;^)
RevLinux, Debian Squeeze"
Kubuntu 10.04 & 10.10 |
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blayne
Xandrosianding
Joined: 07 Jan 2003
Posts: 650
Location: Lexington Kentucky USA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 1:11 pm Post subject: |
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Older PDF files were not editable, but that's changing. PDF forms can be filled out and printed, without altering the underlying form. That's handy for tax forms, etc. From what I've been reading, the latest PDFs allow 3D objects to be embedded and will allow collaborative editing with version tracking and digital signatures so changes are restricted to those with authoring privileges.
I don't use the advanced PDF features. I create 2D documents that others can view and not edit. But for many the added features will be appreciated. I mostly want a lean 2D document viewer and small portable documents, but bloat gets to everything eventually.
With the added features that make PDF more of a general purpose document format, it's starting to look like a serious contender for the DOC market, so no wonder Microsoft and Adobe are starting to butt heads. Meanwhile, Oasis is slowly gaining ground as an open and extensible, always backwardly compatible document format. And pesky Google is quickly advancing their online office suite desktop tools that are a direct challenge to MS Office.
Dark days ahead for Microsoft. I'm going to pop some popcorn and enjoy watching from the sidelines. I've waited too long for this. |
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DarthChaosOfRSPW
Xandrosian
Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 195
Location: Elkview, WV
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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iPod compatible - Does that mean it's compatible with the iPod hardware without all the Apple FairPlay DRM? Or does it just allow Linux access to the iTunes online music store, with all the digital RESTRICTIONS management? I'm not into pirating (Arrrg!) but I don't think that music I create should be grabbed by my computer and locked up so I'm not able to use it. |
Lsongs, maybe? 
| Quote: | | Photo management - Give me a stable version of Xandros File Manager and I can drag and drop my pictures where I want them, and GIMP (or Irfanview running under CrossOver) lets me resize them, etc. Galleries are for chumps. |
Lphoto, maybe?
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once you go Tux, Gates won't get your bucks. |
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ninjablogger
Xandrosian
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 167
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:05 am Post subject: |
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| DarthChaosOfRSPW wrote: |
Lsongs, maybe?
| Quote: | | Photo management - |
Lphoto, maybe? |
Sounds like it. 
Although I can't recall if Lsongs is iPod compatible. This is why I'm waiting for the Business edition... the Home Ed. sounds like they are just playing catchup with other distros.
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Debian & openSUSE |
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thecdn
Xplorer
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 47
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:20 am Post subject: |
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| Has there been any word on what version of kde x4 will be running? Is there any kind of technical info anywhere? |
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ninjablogger
Xandrosian
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 167
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:24 am Post subject: |
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| thecdn wrote: | | Has there been any word on what version of kde x4 will be running? Is there any kind of technical info anywhere? |
We probably won't see any real info until it launches on the 21st.
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Debian & openSUSE |
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Zvqra
Xplorer
Joined: 19 Dec 2003
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:31 am Post subject: |
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X4 will have kde 3.4.2 !!!
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thecdn
Xplorer
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 47
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:52 am Post subject: |
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| Zvqra wrote: | X4 will have kde 3.4.2 !!!
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Where did you find that out?
I've been using 3.5.2 on pclinuxos for a couple of months now  Can't see myself paying for older technology, no matter how stable. 3.5.2 is just so nice... Guess this officially confirms I won't be going to x4. Oh well, it's been swell... |
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Zvqra
Xplorer
Joined: 19 Dec 2003
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:00 am Post subject: |
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I'm sorry for the disappointment, but it will be kde 3.4.2!
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