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On 14 Apr 1995, DrA wrote:

> In article <3mgo02$mtp@doc.jmu.edu> lee s. bumgarner writes:
> >I like HTML and would be quite angry and sad if it were killed off by PDF.
> 
> Gentle People,
> 
> Despite the debate, HTML and PDF are complementary.

There is one BIG difference between PDF and HTML/SGML... the availability 
of specifications in public archives, and the availability of reference 
model source code under the terms of General Public license.

The internet exists in it's current form, not because of the technical 
superiority, but because of it's evolutionary development under GPL.

For those who are not familiar with it, GPL permits you to make/sell 
binary copies, but you must provide access to original source code and
may not make proprietary enhancements without returning them to the 
original authors.

In the past 15+ years, many companies have tried to force the adoption of 
closed standards including IPX/SPX, X.25, the ISO suite, and alternative 
infrastructures such as VMS, CMS, and WindowsNT.  Why does Unix, TCP/IP,
and GPL products persist?

The fundamental issue is consensus or agreement.  When you have many 
technical forces, each with substantial capability, attempting to promote 
exclusive proprietary standards, the loser has nothing to lose by 
publishing the source code.  The availability of the source code results 
in further development by those excluded from the "winning" standard.  
Eventually, the "loser" becomes more flexible, and more widely supported 
by a wide variety of platforms and vendors.  The "Loser" becomes the 
"winner".

The most effective strategy, given these economics, seems to be to 
publish infrastructure under GPL, and publish "Glitz" under private 
labels.  Use X11 and widgets as the infrastructure and use Motif as
the "Glitz", reference models can be published using athena widgets.

PDF may be a better solution for some purposes, but without available 
reference model source code, there is a high risk that some "loser" like 
JPEG, compressed ghostsscript, or list3820 could end up as the ultimate 
"winner".

> HTML seems best suited for "Hypercard-like" functions -- 5x7 and 8x10
> index card
> kind of stuff. Slick, fast, and out of control.

HTML is structured for windows based displays.  I can print reports and 
clips that look nice in PostScript or text.  I can also clip html docs 
for local viewing.

> PDF is great for E-zines, stuff with lots of formatting, stuff you might
> want to
> keep for future reference, and BIG stuff.

PDF allows the author/publisher to Assume he knows what is best for my 
screen.  I have a 23 inch monitor, and 1280x1024 resolution, I run a 
variant of Unix, and I run X11 at 100dpi resolution.  I might want 8 
point font as my base standard for personal use, but I might want 14 
point font when I am presenting to a group.

> I suggest we love them and use them both.

Unfortunately, I have 

> Regards,
> Dave
> 
> 


From rballard@cnj.digex.net Mon May  8 18:00:07 1995
Newsgroups: comp.text.sgml