Hello,
On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 6:03 PM, Kevin Kofler <kevin.kofler(a)chello.at> wrote:
Oliver Ruebenacker wrote:
> That NIH insists on using Adobe Reader is indeed disturbing. But
> then, what is the alternative to Adobe Reader, if free software
> apparently does not support the latest PDF?
Paper, as they have used in the past? A set of regular PDFs, one per form
(and the fancy JavaScript-loaded crap as an alternative for the people who
can't figure it out)? There are plenty of alternatives which wouldn't lock
users into proprietary software. You should not give those bureaucrats a
free pass for this! (That you have to deal with it is one thing, but that
you then defend their unreasonable choice doesn't make sense.)
We all hate bureaucracy. But I do appreciate a form that tells you
if you forgot to fill out something, or takes care of boring tasks
like copying or adding.
I wish the tax forms were like this, and not like they are (e.g. "if
line 5 is greater than line 4, subtract line 4 form line 5 and enter
the result in line 6. Enter zero in line 6 otherwise" etc.)
Instead, the US Revenue Service gives you a list of private tax
software, and when I try one, I discover after hours of work that they
don't support form 1046-S.
I definitely see a need that PDF fulfills. The free software
community should either fully support it or come up with an
alternative.
Take care
Oliver
--
Oliver Ruebenacker, Computational Cell Biologist
Systems Biology Linker at Virtual Cell (
http://vcell.org/sybil)
Turning Knowledge Data into Models
Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling
http://www.oliver.curiousworld.org