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You asked me where other free references etc could be
found online.

Hogan Books has a pretty nice list:


ftp://hoganbooks.com/weball.zip

`Numerical Recipes in C/F77/F90'. I think it may be
included above.


http://www.ulib.org/webRoot/Books/Numerical_Reci pe s/

Mostly science books, but has `A Simplified
Introduction to LaTeX'.


http://samizdat.mines.edu/


Of course, the Linux Documentation Project has its
HOWTOs and mini-HOWTOs and Guides in .ps or .pdf or
sometimes .dvi format:


http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/othe r- formats/


http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini /o ther-formats/


http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/linux-doc- pr oject/

Adobe keeps all of their specs online; the PDF and
PostScript language references, stuff about TrueType
and the new Compact Font Format, etc etc.


http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/technote s/ main.html

`Thinking in PostScript', posted by the author in some
ridiculous proprietary format, as well as in PDF.


http://www.rightbrain.com/pages/book-download.sh tm l

A whole variety of programming books; most seem to be
available in PDF/PS:


http://www.free-book.co.uk/computers-internet/pr og ramming/index.htm

A variety of free online programming references.


http://www.thefreecountry.com/developercity/onli ne references.shtml

For a virus to infect a system and spread by propagating through files exchanged among users it must be able to access the filesystem.

Adobe Postscript does have provisions for allowing a postscript program access to the filesystem: See section 3.8 of the Adobe Postscript Language Reference manual "File Input and Output".

Of course it is up to the postscript interpreter to implement this functionality and even if implemented limit it to certain files and directories. This is not be an issue if the postscript program is run (= printed) on a postscript printer.

As opposed to a postscript, PDF is neither a programming language nor are there any functions to access the filesystem. However, one way to render a PDF file is by prepending PDF interpreting postscript code which in turn is executed by a postscript interpreter. If so, embedded Postscript XObjects containing postscript code per section 4.10 of the Adobe PDF Reference 2.0 are executed.

If pdf's are supposed to be cross-platform and portable, then wtf are they putting executable code in them?

Isn't the whole idea of using pdf's to avoid using word documents and the associated risks?

And doesn't the article say "including everything from the VBScript programs--used in the LoveLetter virus--to an actual executable program"? Doesn't that mean that it's not a VBS issue, rather the design of Acrobat?

Right, nothing for it but to let adobe know your thoughts. email adobe with product improvement suggestions! - like remove the ability to include executables. If Adobe don't do something about this, then they have lost their competitive advantage as a document format.

the adobe one
get it here

But its a pdf file! Isn't that how this whole mess got started anyways?

What purpose could you possibly have for inventing OCR other than to steal people's copyrighted works? If something is not made available in digital form, it's because they didn't want it made available in that form. I would guess that 99% of the uses of OCR have to do with copyrighted works.

So... Do we make OCR illegal? It's certainly getting better and faster all the time. In the forseeable future, a machine could be invented where you drop in a few pages, or an entire book, and it converts it to digital form. Would the creator then be arrested? It's obviously very easy to get to that final step now, just like the DeCSS T-shirt I'm wearing could easily be used to spread copyrighted DVD's over the Internet. Right? That's what is being alleged, anyway.

Ok, the answer is that OCR does not circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a copyrighted work. Or does it? Think about this long and hard. If OCR is not "a technological measure" and if pages stamped on books do not "effectively control access to a copyrighted work" then why are these books not immediately available in digital form? Of course it effectively controls access! I would consider this a form of analog encryption, which fortunately still allows our eyes to read it.

Finally, I've come across a product that that decrypts this form of analog encryption. I hope they don't get sued by someone like Adobe...

"Adobe Acrobat Capture 3.0 Personal Edition is a professional production tool for turning paper-based information into high-quality knowledge documents optimized for electronic distribution." http://www.adobe.com/products/acrcapture/main.html

The numerous reasons stated in the above posts should be enough to justify his release. If not, consider the fact that Adobe have stated their wrongdoing, have recommended his release, and have dropped all charges against him. So what are you waiting for, release him now!

If you don't beleive me get it straight from the horses mouth!

The MPAA, RIAA, and closed source software houses have their customers over a barrel. For many of us, going to the movies, buying or renting a DVD, getting a CD from your favorite band, or buying a computer game is a way of getting a source of entertaiment. Unfortunately, purchasing these products gives companies the ammunition they use to pass laws such as the DMCA. These companies can then use these laws to beat us (the consumers) over the head. Why do we let them continue? What can we, as consumers, do to keep our money from being used against us?

A possible solution is something you can do every day, starting right now. Every DVD you buy, every game you purchase, every visit to a movie theater, every CD you buy, add $5 to the cost. In many cases, this amounts to between 10% (a $50 game) to 50% ($9.99 DVD) of the cost of the item you purchases. Given the way prices work, the original price from the manufacturer is about 50% of the price you pay, so a $50 game is sold initially for about $25. Once you pay licenses, royalties, production, etc. there probably is not much left over that goes to lobbyists or legal. Thus, you are giving a larger amount of money to defeat these laws than you are "giving" to get them enacted.

What do you do with that $5? Donate it to the organization of your choice. Currently, the Electronic Frontier Foundataionis in the forefront of these kinds of issues, but you can choose whomever you like.

What good will your $5 do? Simply put, the EFF needs money. Money to pay for lawyers, money to educate people why these laws are wrong, money to defend those accused of crimes that violate the first amendment of the US Constitution. Since it is effectively increasing the cost of DVDs, CDs, etc., it will also make you think twice about your entertainment choices and maybe even save you money over the long run.

Okay, I have $5. Now what? Save it up. Make a notation somewhere. At the end of the month, end of the quarter, whenever, add up the notations and send the appropriate amount of money to the organization of your choice. In many cases, the money you send is tax-deductible (consult your accontant blah blah)

Avoid Adobe. Use GhostScript. Or have the criminals convert it to HTML for you here.

Hey, I live in Europe too, and I used their feedback form to submit them a comment. Given the US' position in the Western World, I don't consider it innapropriate to participate in US politics that way. Indeed, those US laws often find their ways into Europena legislation via international treaties. We better voice our opinion before these laws become binding for us too.

In case anybody's interested here's what I sent them:

Recently Dmitri Sklyarov, a Russian programmer was arrested while visiting the US for a conference. He is still being held without bail in Las Vegas. His crime: he did a presentation which Adobe ( http://www.adobe.com) felt was against their corporate interests. You can read more about it on http://www.freesklyarov.org. Although Adobe has withdrawn their complaint that triggered Mr Sklyarov's arrest (http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressre leases/200107/20010723dcma.html), probably due to the PR backlash, he is still in prison!

What is your stand on this affair?

Hey, I live in Europe too, and I used their feedback form to submit them a comment. Given the US' position in the Western World, I don't consider it innapropriate to participate in US politics that way. Indeed, those US laws often find their ways into Europena legislation via international treaties. We better voice our opinion before these laws become binding for us too.

In case anybody's interested here's what I sent them:

Recently Dmitri Sklyarov, a Russian programmer was arrested while visiting the US for a conference. He is still being held without bail in Las Vegas. His crime: he did a presentation which Adobe ( http://www.adobe.com) felt was against their corporate interests. You can read more about it on http://www.freesklyarov.org. Although Adobe has withdrawn their complaint that triggered Mr Sklyarov's arrest (http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressre leases/200107/20010723dcma.html), probably due to the PR backlash, he is still in prison!

What is your stand on this affair?

-all dead homiez

I find it ironic that the current chairman and former CEO of Adobe was quoted as saying that one of the worst parts of being kidnapped is the forced separation from ones family. Isn't that what he has ( in part ) done to Sklyarov ?

While GIFs are bad because they use software patented technology, no such thing exists in PDF.

Unfortunately this just isn't the case. From Adobe's website:
Adobe has a number of patents and patents pending, covering technology that is disclosed in the Portable Document Format (PDF) Specification, version 1.3 and later, as documented in PDF Reference and associated technical notes. For details, see the Patent Clarification Notice.

Adobe automatically license PDF to people who want to create programs that implement the specification. They do this so that they can go after you if you do not implement it "properly".

Try that instead.

Actually, I'm surprised that there HASN'T been a counter-arrest in Russia, or a uproar from the Duma. . . .

I think the protests should continue, but the target should widen.

Instead of focussing on Adobe, protest against the DOJ and the DMCA.

The DMCA. Not the DCMA. Many Slashdotters get the acronym wrong, and it bugs me all to hell... it's the Digital Millennium Copyright, not the Digital Copyright Millennium. Sheesh.

Thing about Adobe, is... if they were to have somebody else arrested, they'd lose the PR boost dropping the complaint against Dmitry has gotten them. IOW, they'd look like a bunch of lying bastards.

German lawyers? Oh, they're just renegades, nothing to do with us.

Sklyarov? Oh, we were just trying to get the cracking software out of the U.S., we didn't really want him to rot in jail.

Then they arrest somebody else. Hacker X? Oh, um... :)

Adobe's a member of the BSA.

The BSA has an interesting statement on the DMCA here. This is a response to a Library of Congress rule available here.

Members of the BSA include Adobe, Apple Computer, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, CNC Software/Mastercam, Compaq, Corel Corporation, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Lotus Development, Macromedia, Microsoft, Network Associates, Novell, Sybase, Symantec, and Walker Digital; i.e. most of /.'s favourite hate companies, plus some extras.

These are the guys to line up against. They've been around since the '80s. I suspect that Adobe's lawyers are all BSA stooges. Certainly Adobe's PR department doesn't seem to be toeing the BSA line.

"We support nonprofit organizations that service disadvantaged youth, the homeless, people with disabilities, minorities, the elderly, and victims of abuse; provide disaster relief, medical and hospice care, and meal service; provide education and literacy programs; support human rights; support the arts; protect the environment; and support animal rights." http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/philanthropy

Maybe the EFF could apply to Adobe for financial assistance in getting Dmitri freed.

• General PDF information.
• Comparison of PDF and other formats, including PostScript.
• The PDF spec, from Adobe's website (if you're not boycotting that as well).

• Report corporate abuses of illegal laws.

Reporting Suspected Privacy

If you know of, or believe you know of, an organization or an individual who is committing software piracy, please let us know. Reporting piracy is a good thing because:

Adobe will work with the person or organization to help it become compliant.

If the information you provide turns into a corporate lead and if we get the company to legalize (by buying genuine Adobe software), Adobe will donate a portion of the proceeds as software to underprivileged schools and nonprofits in North America and the rest of the world.

Oh the irony. I suppose this only applies to people who are actually pirating Adobe products, and not just showing the world how worthless they are?

Source: http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/antipiracy/report. html

There's no $$$ in 'team'...

If you have not yet contacted Adobe with your concerns, perhaps it is best to do so. Adobe likely does not read forums such as this (that's their problem I guess), and the only likely means Adobe can understand this public relations flop is their receipt of email from concerned individuals.

Boycott Adobe has the following email contacts at Adobe to send a message to.

Also, Adobe's own forums apparently have discussions related to this matter. I think this forums are located under Adobe support.

If you have not yet contacted Adobe with your concerns, perhaps it is best to do so. Adobe likely does not read forums such as this (shrug), and the only likely means Adobe can understand this public relations flop is their receipt of email from concerned individuals.

Boycott Adobe has the following email contacts at Adobe to send a message to.

Canada based Adobe

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/main.html

"Adobe's worldwide headquarters are in San Jose, California."

There isn't a general feedback option, but pick something.

Probably isn't the most constructive protest, but it sure is fun. Sorta like writing your congressman, you know he doesn't care what you say (unless you include a few hunderds, or maybe a couple thousand $100 bills), but you get to say something to his staff.

I think Adobe should be aware of the number of concerned individuals. Some contacts at Adobe (listed on http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/prcontac ts.html) include:

Adobe Community Relations Ginny Babbit gbabbit@adobe.com
Adobe Public Policy Autumn Blatchford ablatchf@adobe.com
Adobe Investor Relations ir@adobe.com
Adobe User Forums (located on adobe.com) may be found here: http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?.ee6b30e

Any other contacts at Adobe I missed?

I think Adobe should be aware of the number of concerned individuals. Some contacts at Adobe (listed on http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/prcontac ts.html) include:

Adobe Community Relations Ginny Babbit gbabbit@adobe.com
Adobe Public Policy Autumn Blatchford ablatchf@adobe.com
Adobe Investor Relations ir@adobe.com
Adobe User Forums (located on adobe.com) may be found here: http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?.ee6b30e

Any other contacts at Adobe I missed?

I think Adobe should be aware of the number of concerned individuals. Some contacts at Adobe (listed on http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/prcontac ts.html) include:

Adobe Community Relations Ginny Babbit gbabbit@adobe.com
Adobe Public Policy Autumn Blatchford ablatchf@adobe.com
Adobe Investor Relations ir@adobe.com
Adobe User Forums (located on adobe.com) may be found here: http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?.ee6b30e

Any other contacts at Adobe I missed?

The PostScript Language Reference Manual is a big honking PDF.

http://www.adobe.com/print/features/psvspdf/main.h tml

That's a little note from the product manageer for Adobe InDesign, their New! Spiffy! Incredibly Expensive! tool which, instead of just using an embedded preview, actually Executes the PostScript! and shows you what you're Really Getting!

Uh, yeah. GhostView's been doing that for how long now?

Any `benefits' of PDF are strictly in the fields of multimedia and hypertext. The downside -- you're tied to Adobe's murky `standard' that they and only they are accountable for -- far outweighs any benefits.

Note that you need something called `Extreme' to directly print PDFs. Wanna bet it contains the same closed Supa Secret PDF Decoding Rules that Adobe doesn't publish in their standards?

-grendel drago

Can anyone tell me what system resources are? I have a vauge idea that it has something to do with free RAM but the documentation for MS Resource Monitor never specifies exactly what it is...

Actually, it has nothing to do with free RAM. It's a combination of the GDI and User heaps, and System Resources is just the lower of the 2 (the Resource Monitor will show values of all 3, the Performance tab of the System Control Applet shows the lowest value of GDI and User as System Resources % free).

So, what's GDI and User resources, you ask? Here's a brief rundown.

The GDI (graphical device interface) heap is basically a space in memory to be used for graphic elements (cursors, bitmaps, icons, etc). The User heap is for window placement, keybd and mouse interactions, etc. Check references for more info, especially the Technet article here (it's about Win 3.x, but applies equally, except for the space limitations).

The GDI and User heaps are left overs for backward compatibility with Win 3.x, which is why the NT line doesn't have to deal with this crap. Win9x, however, did increase the sizes of the heaps to 32-bits, as opposed to 16-bit, and also increased the number of heaps. So, Win9x has 1 16-bit (64K) User heap and 1 64K GDI heap, and 2 32-bit (2MB) User heaps and 1 32-bit GDI heap. Win 3.0 had 2 16-bit heaps, Win 3.1 had 4 16-bit heaps, 3 User and 1 GDI).

And, of course, they also upped the limits on a few other things as well.

Just FYI, more RAM does not increase system resources. Only another OS (including NT/2000) will be able to do away with those limitations (or open-source code).

References: PCForrest, Adobe TechDoc, and there's a Technet article explaining it all as well, but I'll be damned if I can find it. You can try if you like.

I've used Adobe's fonts for years, and I can say none of them look anything like Microsoft's current tactics. Well, maybe Warning Pi, but that's hardly "many".

cbroglia@adobe.com

He's the PR rep for Adobe and their Illustrator product. Be polite but firm.

I just checked through their website and can find no mention of this lawsuit. Also on the main page of their corporate page it mentions that they have annual revenues of over 12Billion USD. And it's main headquarters are in San Jose, California. So why would these german lawyers be going after this guy. Also their Company profile completely clashes with this act. Read their company info page. About Adobe

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/prcontac ts.html gives Cara Broglia cbroglia@adobe.com, (408) 536-6000, as the PR Manager for Adobe Illustrator. (Note, they don't say just Illustrator).

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/prcontac ts.html gives Cara Broglia cbroglia@adobe.com, (408) 536-6000, as the PR Manager for Adobe Illustrator. (Note, they don't say just Illustrator).

It's pretty well-known, dude.

Some people have said Burr's address doesn't work.

You can also try:

Cara Broglia
cbroglia@adobe.com
408-536-6000

She's the PR Manager in charge of the Adobe Illustrator product, so she should be one of the ones on the firing line, so to speak.

Ohter Adobe contacts can be found here.

The one you likely want the most is the PR manager for Adobe Illustrator®, Cara Broglia.

Of course, a link to the Linux Advocacy HOWTO is always in order at times like this. As cbroglia will not be reading his/her e-mail for another 10-12 hours, why not wait until then. Sober second thought, and all that.

The one you likely want the most is the PR manager for Adobe Illustrator®, Cara Broglia.

Of course, a link to the Linux Advocacy HOWTO is always in order at times like this. As cbroglia will not be reading his/her e-mail for another 10-12 hours, why not wait until then. Sober second thought, and all that.

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/contact.html

--Mike

Quote:

Conduct business on the highest ethical basis

Life is too short to be ashamed of anything we do. Truth, honesty, and integrity in all of our dealings with other people allow us to always be proud of our association with Adobe.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH!

That's a good one. I have a Linux box. If there is an application on Linux that I like better than a similar one that runs on my Windows box or my Mac, I use it. That's called competition. If that's not clear enough for you here's a direct statement: You are wrong, the products compete.

The products do not compete. One is a package that runs under Windows and MacOS, the other under Linux. In a world where few people have more than one computer, that's enough of a distinction to ensure that sales/distributions of one do not affect the others in any serious degree.

That's another good one. You've got to be a lawyer -- or at least a comedian. Which one came first? Adobe Illustrator. Clear lines can be drawn (har har) between the naming of Killustrator and the original naming of Adobe Illustrator. Sorry, you[r] point is not taken.

If we were talking about Adobe calling their product "Megadraw", and KDE "KMegadraw", or "Lines123" and "KLines123", then you might have a point. But Adobe have chosen a descriptive name for their product, one that is completely generic and was already used for that purpose when Adobe used it. What would you describe a vector drawing program as if you wanted to sum it up in one word? It is nonsense to suggest that the name is not equally applicable to other products simply because Adobe used it first. That's abuse of language.

I'd love to see those stats regarding operating systems and which ones aren't as prevalent as others. I don't believe it, and why don't you include the names of those operating systems.

I'm sorry your response to someone daring to disagree with you is to try to ridicule it, but you're going to actually have to think of some arguments beyond "You are wrong" and "Sorry, you[r] point is not taken" because Adobe's use "came first".

This isn't a race. It's about the appropriation of language. Adobe has no right to declare a word in common use its own, and KDE has every right to name a project as descriptively as possible. If Adobe, and yourself, don't like it, they'll just have to learn to deal with it. Perhaps Adobe should change the name of their product to something less generic?
--

The amusing part is that they really promote the fact that the SVG standard is open and, as such, Open Source development is a large part of the promise of SVG.

I hope Adobe realizes how much they rely on Open Source for the success of this initiative.

.Kris

Prof. Frink: "Here is an ordinary square."

So, I have closed the website at the moment. Could somebody with access to koffice.org remove all information about and links to Killu, please?

Well mate, I fear this is utter rubish. You may want to check out this link in order to deliver your web pages precisely as you wish to deliver them.

The Adobe SVG plugin is available at: www.adobe.com/svg/

SVG - Scalable Vector Graphics.
Graphics in XML, and is a standard from the W3C (or will be soon :-).
http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/Overview.htm8

If you haven't played with SVG, I highly recommend taking a look. Not only does it make it easy to author graphics in a text editor, but you can generate them with XSLT, or even better, programatically in code. Besides the powerfull integrated animation features, they expose a DOM so you can script them with Javascript (or eventually in Mozilla with Python, Perl, etc). Let's not forget the main feature, that they are scalable...so they can scale from a handheld screen size, up to a 2025 model 8000x6000 resolution monitor - allowing you to author truly device independent sites. Oh, and like any good web technology they are accessible too, and the text can be extracted from the graphics for text only dispay (you can even copy and paste right off the screen). Another great thing is that you style them with the same CSS style sheets you do your web site, so you can change the colors and styling of your graphics along with your HTML. Oh, and don't forget you can create SVG font files too!

I will also plug Adobe, who if you are running Windows or Mac (not Linux :-(, have released version 2 of their fantastic SVG viewer, which has brilliant conformance for such an emerging standard.
Anyhow, forget Flash, check out SVG!