proposal to omit pdf generation of reference manual

Why not have the pdf as a separate download? It seems large enough to be
considered as another object.

PDF, in my experience, is far more controlled than html. I have been
occasionally horrified by the unreadable messes displayed by people who have
changed the parameters in their browsers (regarding fonts, sizes, page width
etc), and who assume therefore that the objects being displayed are
defective.  I think it is easier to improve the readability of the displayed
mathematics in the manual in PDF, (to look like proper typeset math) than to
get it going in html. (not every browser is going to do mathml, even if we
do it..)

 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu 
> [mailto:maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu] On Behalf Of Mario Rodriguez
> Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 5:20 AM
> To: Robert Dodier
> Cc: Maxima List
> Subject: Re: [Maxima] proposal to omit pdf generation of 
> reference manual
> 
> 
> > At present for each release a pdf version of the reference manual
> > is generated from Texinfo and posted to the Maxima web site.
> > I wonder if it is OK if we stop generating pdfs and not worry about
> > whether pdf generation succeeds.
> > 
> > Pdf generation is broken at the moment (in en, es, and pt) and
> > I believe it is not worth the trouble to fix it. I believe 
> html and info
> > (which are generated successfully) are better formats for the
> > Maxima reference manual.
> >
> > The pdf version of the manual is very large (circa 3 M) and so it is
> > clumsy to browse online or download, and it has no content not
> > present in the info or html versions.
> > 
> > Comments?
> > 
> > Robert
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I have spent a lot of time trying to fix problems with the Spanish
> pdf's. At present, I have found new problems, but I can build the
> document.
> 
> Personally, I never use this format in my daily work.
> 
> On the other hand, I suspect nobody prints the (about) 700 pages.
> Ecologically speaking, let's save the woods of Brazil and 
> other parts of
> the world and let me second your proposal.
> 
> Best wishes.
> 
> -- 
> Mario Rodriguez Riotorto
> www.biomates.net
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