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On 1/26/2019 12:27 PM, Ross Moore wrote:
the problem is that as soon a some validator complains we tend to 'fix' it (by inclusion again) but we really should be willing to doubt validators
I understand what you imply here, but the practicality is different. Students (postgrads mainly) produce theses using TeX which need to be submitted to their institution's library. The library system requires valid PDF/A. This validity is checked using Acrobat, since their institution has spent money for this.
Instead of complaining about the pdf they could better filter (unfinishedor invalid) crap from useful stuff and prevent further internet polution -) btw, i don't know how it's in other countries, but i wonder to what extent universities really care about long term ... it's not unusual to remove web pages (even email accounts) and such of employees that retire that they created (forcing them to host documents on another not future safe place) of students after a few years
Our own view on whether this is sensible or not has no bearing whatsoever.
Isn't it funny that a major of body of contributers of pdf's has no say in this? How competent are those making those decisions and demands. Just accepting a bit more sane standard (in the whole range of pdf standards) makes sense. I bet that at some point it will be okay anyway. (I also bet that these same institutions happily update to html 5 or whatever comes around.)
Hence we must *allow* for workflows that produce PDFs to any sensible published standard. We have to work out how to do this, else TeX will be considered a dinosaur. And we *are* smart enough to do this, provided we have the will to play this game properly.
well, it definitely makes pdf a dinosaur (or maybe it already is) (it's really funny that the standards permit other dinosauric, more complex and sort of useless, aspects of pdf) (anyway, i understand your pov; i never have to submit anything to any place; i normally add to context what users need to make the receiver happy, as long as i don't have to use it myself i don't bother too much) Hans ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands tel: 038 477 53 69 | www.pragma-ade.nl | www.pragma-pod.nl -----------------------------------------------------------------