gEDA-dev: Re: [Gnucap-devel] Gnucap docs build failure on FC5 (and other places)

[Stuart Brorson]

On Sun, 30 Jul 2006, Russell Shaw wrote:

> Stuart Brorson wrote:
>>>> Anyway, IMO we shouldn't require users to build .pdf files in their
>>>> distributions.  Pdfs should just come with the distribution.  IMO a
>>>> .pdf file is a "make dist" target, requiring the developer to have the
>>>> right tools installed, not the user.
>>> 
>>> If every package had pdf files already built, it would increase bandwidth
>>> usage a large amount (eg, from Debian repositories).
>> 
>> That's silly.  The .pdf of Al's doc is about 1MB.  In a world where
>> pimple-faced kids are downloading zillions of MB of songs all the
>> time, a 1MB .pdf file is nothing.
>
> It's a relative scale. If your source is 100kB, then you've just multiplied
> the bandwidth traffic and charges to someone by a factor of ten. Just because
> pimple face idiots are doing it, doesn't mean anyone else should.

Silly argument.  The cost difference of transporting 1MB vs. 100kB is
infinitesimal.  Moreover, pdf is modern, efficient (i.e. compressed),
and -- most importantly for humans (and not bit-counters) -- 
works nicely with systems where Latex is not installed by default
(i.e. a lot of contemporary Linux distros).  Ultimately, I care more
about the software user than the number of bits transported.

By your logic, we should all still be using "gopher" to surf the
internet.

As for me, if the Massachusetts IT department has approved pdf as
sufficiently "open" (like ODF), then I have no problem using it.

In any event, I am not interested in discussing with you about how
many bits are wasted by including .pdf docs into a software
distribution. If you really care about 100kB vs. 1MB, bully for you. 
Moving forward, I will ignore any response you may have about this
since I'd just be contributing to a ridiculous pissing match with a
crank.

Meanwhile, I *am* interested in hearing from others who might have
some insight into  solving my problem.   What is the best way to set
up a Makefile to generate .pdfs as a "make dist" target, and then have
them simply installed when the end user does "make"?

Stuart