>> $ echo 'Hello, world.' | groff -T pdf -P -d
>>
>> reveals a PostScript-like language, with unfortunate occasional recourse
>> to non-printable characters.
> The ps-like page description language inside page streams is not the
> problem. The structure of the pdf file that relies on file offsets
Hi Douglas,
On Mon, 24 Mar 2025 11:33:53 -0400
Douglas McIlroy wrote:
> So I'd welcome palliative advice about my worries.
I'm sorry to say that I share them. With a tool as widely deployed as groff,
compatibility with legacy is huge, and breaking it should merit considerable
benefits above
On Mon, Mar 24, 2025 at 14:59:04 -0500, G. Branden Robinson wrote:
> > One can't read or edit PDF. (I do both.)
>
> You mean with a text editor? Conceded. Partially. I think it's
> in a compressed form by default, but you can turn that off and get
> more human-readable output.
>
> A quick exp
Hi Branden,
> I think this is due to its Perl dependency more than any antipathy toward
> PDF.
That's still a valid reason to avoid fiddling with defaults needlessly,
IMHO.
You mean with a text editor? Conceded. Partially. I think [PDF] is in a
> compressed form by default, but you can turn th
Hi Doug, Damian, and Jon,
At 2025-03-24T11:33:53-0400, Douglas McIlroy wrote:
> I have qualms about changing the default output device.
So do I! I have no plans to do it for the next release, no desire to do
it before we have solid PDF support in groff's ms(7), me(7), and mm(7),
and by the time
On Mon, 24 Mar 2025, Douglas McIlroy wrote:
I have qualms about changing the default output device.
I concur. For all of Doug's reasons.
It would break a lot of makefiles.
Some distributors of groff exclude gropdf.
One can't read or edit PDF. (I do both.)
PDFPIC is a horror.
Thanks - Damia
>
> I have qualms about changing the default output device.
Isn't this what the GROFF_TYPESETTER environment variable is for, though?
So that users can override defaults they deem to be unintuitive?
Changing defaults shouldn't be done willy-nilly, IMHO. I'm used to
expecting PostScript output by
