[thelist] Site check: Staples.com

Shawn K. Quinn skquinn at speakeasy.net
Wed Sep 21 00:02:36 CDT 2005


On Wed, 2005-09-21 at 10:08 +1000, Robert Gormley wrote:
> Shawn K. Quinn wrote:
> > Google also indexes a lot of formats that simply aren't appropriate for
> > use on the World Wide Web due to their closed, proprietary nature (MSN,
>    
> It's now inappropriate to publish any closed proprietary format material 
> on the web?

I would say for the majority of cases, it always has been.

> That universities publishing lecture notes can't do so in 
> Keynote/Powerpoint?

I highly doubt that free, open specifications defining the Keynote or
Powerpoint formats exist. I hear Powerpoint exports in a pathetic excuse
for HTML, though (thankfully we have a special mode of HTML Tidy that
cuts out most of the junk).

> That small contacts db applications (not that I would want to use such
> a thing) can't be published as an Access database?

I highly doubt that a free, open specification defining the format of an
Access database exists.

> That an executable can't be published, because it won't run natively
> on another OS?

This specific case may be a bit different. However, it's extremely rare
these days for me to run a binary for which the corresponding source
code isn't available for me to review (and modify) as needed.

Most search engine robots really have no business indexing the contents
of a binary executable anyway. (One specifically designed to search the
text inside publicly available software would, but I don't think such a
beast exists, partly because binaries are often compressed and encrypted
to thwart exactly this.)

> That a graphics company can't publish template resources in Photoshop or 
> Illustrator format?

Either Adobe has been a bit better about saying just what the format is
for files their software generates, or their formats have just been that
much easier to reverse-engineer. I'm not sure which is the case, and
haven't really had reason to learn.

What I do know: Gimp can supposedly read Photoshop images. Inkscape can
supposedly read Illustrator images. (I haven't tested either of these
because I haven't needed to.) OpenOffice.org has no trouble exporting
any of its documents to PDF. (This feature I *have* tested on numerous
occasions. I had no trouble reading it on my mom's PC, running Windows
2000 Professional.)

> That a publishing/printing company can't publish templates in InDesign 
> format?

Another Adobe product, so I guess the same would apply.

In general, locking up information in proprietary formats (including
binary executables specific to a given operating system and/or hardware)
runs counter to the goal of wide distribution of information, which is
what the Web is about.

-- 
Shawn K. Quinn <skquinn at speakeasy.net>



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