Re: [dq-rules] Plain Text Files Preferred

["J. K. Hoffman" <ryumaou@sbcglobal.net>]

If a professional geek might chime in here...

Can I suggest a middle-ground?  How about RTF?  Rich-
Text Format is like txt on steroids.  It would allow 
for things like bold and italic, as well as pictures, 
but it's a fairly universal standard.  To the best of 
my knowlege, there are a multitude of programs on 
*every* platform that will read RTF, not just PC and 
Mac, but Linux, too.
MS Word will read and write RTF, as will OpenOffice 
and Star Office, which are available for multiple 
platforms.

And, just side note, I'm not really interested in 
contributing to the rules themselves, per se, since 
I'm not actively gaming, but I would be happy to be a 
technical advisor/grunt for formats and conversions, 
etc.

Thanks,
Jim
--- Original Message ---
From: rthorm@cornellbox.com
To: dq-rules@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [dq-rules] Plain Text Files Preferred

>I have been a longtime advocate for having files and 
information that is
>accessible to as many people as possible.  I have run 
the DQ Newsletter in
>text-only format, so that nearly anyone should be 
able to access the material. 
>Plain text may not be nicely formatted or have some 
of the other readability
>features that other file types offer, but the basic 
information can be
>accessed.
> 
>Use of Wintel PCs is widespread, but not unanimous.  
There are lots of Mac users
>and others who would not be able to use the files if 
we used MS Word. 
>Proprietary formats also change over time.  I had to 
convert my original "Poor
>Brendan's Almanac" files when I decided to update it 
and publish it on the Web.
> I had originally composed it on a Macintosh, and had 
since moved over to a PC
>platform.  But plain text files will not be obsoleted 
by changes in the file
>format.  And plain text can easily be imported into 
anyone's favorite program
>and enhanced as desired.
>
>I also think that good layout and readability are 
important factors to consider,
>so plain text files by themselves are not going to be 
the only format we will
>want to support.  I am also a fan of Adobe Acrobat 
(PDF) format because it is
>widely available (though I understand that it is not 
available for OS/2
>systems) and it allows complete formatting and layout 
control.
>
>I recently found out that PHP scripts can be set up 
that will automatically
>generate PDF files.  I suppose that my ideal would be 
to set this up on a site
>that would allow the automatic generation of a PDF 
copy of the rules, allow the
>selection of which optional rules to include, etc.
>
>But I strongly feel that the base text must be simple 
plain text.  I don't have
>a problem with anyone using MS Word, if that is their 
preferred word processor.
> I use Word at work, but I also use Open Office and 
Edit Pad, and prefer those
>programs.  Any word processor will output a plain 
text file.  If nothing else,
>you can always copy and paste text into an email 
program.
>
>And lastly, plain text files are smaller than 
anything with built in formatting,
>so that also helps make it easier to archive and 
share them.
>
>  --Rodger

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   than to curse the darkness."
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