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In article <361495A9.B0F06FBB@ics.forth.gr> you wrote:

> Does the Apache user manual exists in a printable format, pdf or ps ?

No, for Apache 1.0 (and 1.1?) there were those manuals generated out of the
HTML files. But after this time we only have the HTML files and PS or PDF
versions were never created again. Hmmm... I would like to see PS versions
again, too.
Ralf S. Engelschall
rse@engelschall.com
www.engelschall.com

Greetings,

Which printable format is better for most users? PS or PDF? Or is it
acceptable to print HTML sections from a browser? I'm trying to choose an
appropriate format for the IBM documentation that supports the Apache server.

Thanks for any feedback,

Robin Langford
rlangfor@us.ibm.com



apache-docs-owner@apache.org on 09/02/98 05:47:24 AM
Please respond to apache-docs@apache.org
To: apache-docs@apache.org
cc:
Subject: Re: Does the apache user manual exists in printable format?



In article <361495A9.B0F06FBB@ics.forth.gr> you wrote:

> Does the Apache user manual exists in a printable format, pdf or ps ?

No, for Apache 1.0 (and 1.1?) there were those manuals generated out of the
HTML files. But after this time we only have the HTML files and PS or PDF
versions were never created again. Hmmm... I would like to see PS versions
again, too.
Ralf S. Engelschall
rse@engelschall.com
www.engelschall.com

Robin Langford wrote:
>
> Greetings,
>
> Which printable format is better for most users? PS or PDF? Or is it
> acceptable to print HTML sections from a browser? I'm trying to choose an
> appropriate format for the IBM documentation that supports the Apache server.

PostScript(r) is nasty because it's not always portable from
printer to printer. But it compresses nicely with gzip. :-)

PDF is a pain if there isn't an Acrobat reader available for
your platform, or if you don't have access to a GUI of some
sort.

The main problem I see with HTML is that it's difficult to
specify page-breaks and section numbers, and it's difficult
to print a set of related pages (also a problem with the
other formats unless care is taken). The paging issue is
addressed (at least somewhat IIRC) by HTML/4.0.

Personally, I prefer HTML because it can be read on almost
any display device and printed therefrom with a minimum of
difficulty.

#ken P-)}

Ken Coar <http://Web.Golux.Com/coar/>
Apache Group member <http://www.apache.org/>
"Apache Server for Dummies" <http://Web.Golux.Com/coar/ASFD/>

I think if you could put them in PDF format would be best or word 6.0
format.

--
Will Stafford
MScF Candidate, Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario
wstaffor@sky.lakeheadu.ca
http://blue.lakeheadu.ca/wstaffor/menu.html

WORD!?!

hello...open format PLEASE!

i can't read word format on my (fill_in_the_blank with non-MicOS os)

geeeeZZZZ

-----Original Message-----
From: Will Stafford [mailto:wstaffor@sky.lakeheadu.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 1998 3:21 PM
To: apache-docs@apache.org
Subject: Re: Does the apache user manual exists in printable format?


I think if you could put them in PDF format would be best or word 6.0
format.

--
Will Stafford
MScF Candidate, Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario
wstaffor@sky.lakeheadu.ca
http://blue.lakeheadu.ca/wstaffor/menu.html

I'd like to see PDF files, Acroread does a nice job of printing and you
don't need a PS printer.


> Which printable format is better for most users? PS or PDF? Or is it
> acceptable to print HTML sections from a browser?

Will Stafford wrote:
>
> I think if you could put them in PDF format would be best or word 6.0
> format.

MHO: Yuk. PC-centric, both of them.

Make them available in all formats, driven from the HTML. :-)

#ken P-)}

Ken Coar <http://Web.Golux.Com/coar/>
Apache Group member <http://www.apache.org/>
"Apache Server for Dummies" <http://Web.Golux.Com/coar/ASFD/>

Items to think about ->
- I can't think of and modern GUI type OS that doesn't have acroread
ported to it.
- You don't need a PS printer to print it.
- HTML makes (comparatively) horrible printed documentation.
- I believe that if you create a PDF file with Acrobat, you can save it
as HTML, making it very usable for a browser.

I do agree that the doc's ought to be HTML, but we should see them in a
nice printable form also.
My vote, to reiterate, is PDF, for the printer reason.

...John Schenck...

> Make them available in all formats, driven from the HTML. :-)
>
> #ken P-)}

rlangfor@us.ibm.com (Robin Langford) writes:

>
> Greetings,
>
> Which printable format is better for most users? PS or PDF? Or is it
> acceptable to print HTML sections from a browser? I'm trying to choose an
> appropriate format for the IBM documentation that supports the Apache server.
>
> Thanks for any feedback,
>
> Robin Langford
> rlangfor@us.ibm.com
>

Looking at the stats for the Apache quick reference card, the
downloads for PDF format files outnumber those for Postscript format 3
to 1 for those downloading the US letter sized card, and 2 to 1 for
those downloading the A4 card.

Personally I dislike the exclusive use of HTML for documentation --
its a pain to print out and sort out, and anyway I like to get away
from my computer to read documentation. I would suggest using SGML or
LaTeX and converting to HTML for the online docs. I have used LaTeX
for most of my documentation in the past and find it far superior to
direct HTML coding. The LaTeX2HTML convertor is infinitely
customizable so you can get virtually any effect in HTML you want by
tweaking and adding perl code, while still being able to generated
high quality printed documentation. I am looking at SGML tools at the
moment and the same principle applies -- with the route to printed
documentation still being via LaTeX.

Andrew
--
Andrew Ford Email: A.Ford@ford-mason.co.uk
Director, Ford & Mason Ltd. WWW: http://www.ford-mason.co.uk/aford/
South Wing, Compton House, Tel: +44 1531 829900
Compton Green, Redmarley, GL19 3JB, GB Fax: +44 1531 829901

You could print the HTML files through your browser..

At 11:58 AM 10/2/98 +0300, you wrote:
>Hi,
>Does the Apache user manual exists in a printable format, pdf or ps ?
>Thanks
>Napoleon Maou
>
>--
>Napoleon Maou
>Software Engineer
>AT&HCI Laboratory
>ICS-FORTH
>voice : +3081391742
>email : maou@ics.forth.gr
>WWW : www.ics.forth.gr
>

Use a decent SGML version for the master and drive PS, PDF, TeX, HTML,
etc from that. Solves most of your problems quite easily. Publically
available tools will do most of that (except perhaps PDF??).

Jonathan Smith

Jsmith@Suninternet.Com ("Jonathan J. Smith") writes:

>
> Use a decent SGML version for the master and drive PS, PDF, TeX, HTML,
> etc from that. Solves most of your problems quite easily. Publically
> available tools will do most of that (except perhaps PDF??).
>
> Jonathan Smith
>

Ghostscript will generate PDF from PostScript.

--
Andrew Ford Email: A.Ford@ford-mason.co.uk
Director, Ford & Mason Ltd. WWW: http://www.ford-mason.co.uk/aford/
South Wing, Compton House, Tel: +44 1531 829900
Compton Green, Redmarley, GL19 3JB, GB Fax: +44 1531 829901

I prefer a file that has been created to be printed.
Now, if there was a single page that contined the whole document then I
would not complain, but printing so many pages is at least time consuming.

I think that people who provide documentation only in HTML format, they
should also provide a single page version of the documentation for
printing purpoces.

Napoleon



snuffy wrote:

> You could print the HTML files through your browser..
>
> At 11:58 AM 10/2/98 +0300, you wrote:
> >Hi,
> >Does the Apache user manual exists in a printable format, pdf or ps ?
> >Thanks
> >Napoleon Maou
> >
> >--
> >Napoleon Maou
> >Software Engineer
> >AT&HCI Laboratory
> >ICS-FORTH
> >voice : +3081391742
> >email : maou@ics.forth.gr
> >WWW : www.ics.forth.gr
> >



--
Napoleon Maou
Software Engineer
AT&HCI Laboratory
ICS-FORTH
voice : +3081391742
email : maou@ics.forth.gr
WWW : www.ics.forth.gr