On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 03:03:58 +1100, David Gerard fun@thingy.apana.org.au wrote:
Andre Engels (andreengels@gmail.com) [041113 02:58]:
Yes, they match the definition. But there are other formats that match the definition just as well, but that you want to forbid because you prefer your free formats to formats that are free only in practice but not in theory and want to force your opinion upon me and others.
You've convinced me. I move we make data dumps only available in the universal standard format, i.e. MS Word documents.
Are you deliberately misunderstanding me, or am I just not being clear? I am not the one who is prescribing any formats. I want to _extend_ the allowed formats. I'm not in favor of converting material to any format I prefer, but in not converting material that comes in in such a format.
Nor would I want to allow _all_ formats. Formats that are very rare are not a good idea. Nor are formats that are hard or impossible to read on some of the most common platforms, which would exclude at least all recent versions of MS Word. All I'm asking is to take a practical stand (availability on all applicable platforms for free, or included with all normal software packets) rather than a legalese one (no known patents).
Andre Engels