[tdf-discuss] New "LibreOffice Reader" Eliminates Need for "PDF Reader"

OK, this is just a teaser to entice people into a discussion of the 
following proposal.

There is talk on the documentation list of the formats made available to 
users of our documents (manuals, reference books, etc). These for now 
are in .odt (ODF) and .pdf (Adobe) and possibly .html (being discussed 
on the documentation list).

The purpose of this particular thread is NOT to continue the 
documentation thread on the merits of providing particular formats. If 
you are interested in taking this up, it is already being discussed on 
the documentation list.

This thread is really about proposing, to the devs, the possibility of 
creating a "LibreOffice Reader" similar to the "Adobe .pdf Reader". The 
idea is that, we are in a particularly advantageous position of 
providing an excellent popular office suite with a solid and well 
documented format (ODF) and, if we were to promote a "quick and dirty" 
"LibreOffice Reader", very much like the "Adobe Acrobat Reader", whose 
sole purpose is to provide the ability to "read" ".odt" files, there 
would be no need to carry .pdf formatted files.

I would like to propose the following for discussion:

The "LibreOffice Reader" would have the following characteristics:

* small footprint
* capable of reading ODF formatted files ONLY and .odt in particular
* only capable of reading and form filling, NO editing capabilities 
(these are left to the expertise of the LibreOffice suite)
* be able to interpret any of the LibreOffice "highlighting" effects and 
"weblinking" abilities
* as much as possible code should not stray too far from the LibreOffice 
code in order to avoid a new divergent branch of software
* TDF adopt "LibreOffice Reader" as its first secondary software project

If, such a project were adopted, LibreOffice could then be adapted in 
such a way as to complement the "LibreOffice Reader", very much like the 
relationship of the Adobe Acrobat list of software ("Acrobat X Pro" 
etc.) and their relationship with "Acrobat Reader". The LibreOffice 
suite could have added functionality that would be compatible with the 
"LibreOffice Reader" and offer interested users, an opensource 
alternative to the .pdf format.

Cheers

Marc


--
Marc Paré
http://www.parEntreprise.com


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