Re: Does the apache user manual exists in printable format?

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

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

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