PDF Readers: Stop the ads!
Title: Stamp out the ads: Free-Software PDF reader sprint
Location: MadLab
Description: Publicly funded institutions often advertise one specific PDF-reader on their websites: this is not acceptable. Armed with cake and pizza, we will find and contact public institutions advertising non-free brands of PDF readers and ask them to replace the advert with a company neutral, free and open standards alternative.
Start Time: 15:00
Date: 2011-08-13
End Time: 17:30
Every day, public institutions advertise specific brands of non-free software on their websites. What would you think about a sign on a public motorway saying “You need a Volkswagen to drive on this road. Contact your Volkswagen dealer for a gratis test drive – Love from, Your Government”? When it comes to software for opening PDF files, many public sector organisations, including Local Councils, Tax Offices, The Home Office, andThe Food Standards Agency, advertise like this every day. By attending this FSFE PDF reader sprint, you can help change this! Armed with cake and pizza, we will find and contact public institutions who are advertising non-Free PDF readers and ask them to replace the advert with a vendor-neutral, Free Software alternative.
It’s a question of neutrality: Public institutions should not engage in advertising, nor further strengthen the dominance of a single company. It’s a question of freedom: A government that exists to protect and preserve our freedom should not be asking us to use non-free software. It’s a question of Open Standards: Open Standards PDF formats can be viewed by all PDF readers, other formats restrict competition and inhibit your freedom.
- Report an advert
- International campaign homepage
- Get yourself a Free Software PDF Reader
- Learn about PDF Open Standards
Please bring your own laptop if you have one!
I think that it is wonderful that you are supporting Open Standards, such as PDF itself (ISO 32000-1) as well as the subset standards that have been developed against it (PDF/A, PDF/X, etc.).
However, you also seem to be promoting the use of PDF readers that do NOT support those standards that you’ve mentioned. NONE of the PDF readers that are promoted by the FSFE support ANY of those standards
. Sure, they may read SOME set of PDF files, but they do NOT do it correctly (aka “as defined in the standard”).
As such, perhaps your “sprint” would be more constructive in contacting and/or contributing to the open source projects in their support of open standards.
Leonard Rosenthol
ISO Project Leader, PDF/A and PDF/E
Thanks for commenting Leonard.
One of the purposes of the event is indeed to promote Open Standards, and you’re right that the availability of complete implementations of the various PDF ISO standards in Free Software could be much improved. This event is part of the larger PDF Readers campaign, which is in contact with the developers of Free Software PDF Readers, provides assistance (such as translations) where available, and promotes the GNU PDF project which aims to create a standards compliant set of reader and writer libraries.
However the situation regarding the ISO standards is a complex one, and Free Software PDF readers are suitable for the needs of of most people in most cases, which is as much as can be said of any proprietary PDF reader. Whilst we would much prefer greater standards compliance of the Free Software readers, and will continue to work towards this, using such readers offers real benefits to users now in terms of the freedoms that they protect. This being the case, requesting that governments cease advertising of proprietary readers is a valid goal for the sprint to pursue.
If you’d like to support the development of a complete, standards compliant, Free Software PDF reader and writer library and desktop application, please donate to the GNUPDF project here: http://link.fsfe.org/gnupdf-d
We’re in the international press:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/237675/free_software_activists_to_stop_uk_govt_promotion_of_adobe.html
http://www.cfoworld.com/strategic-finance/17361/free-software-activists-stop-uk-promotion-adobe
Leonard might also be a weeny bit biased as an employee of a certain PDF reader company… it’s interesting that he chose only to disclose his ISO affiliation and not his other post which surely must be considered relevant.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/lrosenthol
Not to say that it isn’t a fair point – but I myself never notice any kind of problems or missing features with the various open source PDF readers I use (evince and SumatraPDF) – I’m not an advanced user, but I’m sure not many other people are either.
@dr_barnowl: Thank you for pointing that out! It is indeed interesting that the only comment that I’ve received suggesting that the sprint aims should be changed comes from an employee of Adobe.
[...] 7. 0.html 8. http://pdfreaders.org 9. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.it.html 10. http://madlab.org.uk/content/stamp-out-the-ads-free-software-pdf-reader-sprint/ 11. http://www.linux-verband.de/news/detail/opensource/pressemitteilung/ 12. [...]