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Date:         Fri, 27 Nov 1998 09:59:16 -0500
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Subject:      Re: What is "base" LaTeX
Status: R

At 09:34 AM 98/11/27 , Hans Aberg wrote:

>It depends on what one wants to do -- if one merely wants to display a
>document, then a format like PDF might be OK.

Who suggested anything else (other than hypertext links, and such clever
things as what Donald Story does). You may have created this straw man.

>But as soon something becomes electronic, there are a lot of other things
>one wants to do: Reuse the information in various way. Then in a PDF
>format, that information is lost.

Right, PDF is largely an output format, like PS or DVI and unlike TeX source code say.
In fact service bureaus are migrating from PS to PDF as the medium of choice
for submissions.

>So all points to that formats like PDF are great as new DVI formats, but is
>wholly unsuitable to lead the way into the future with respect to all the
>other things one want to do with a computer.

Which is fine.  Do you want people to easily edit and change your papers
and pass around modified copies?