Re: M$ Word -- Bad (was:Re: [Fsfe-uk] OFT visit)

[Mark Preston]

I also did not know of RTF until a free software advocate told me about it.
RTF (Rich Text Format) is Microsoft Word's text format. It is intended as an 
interchange format to transfer documents between different programs. In some 
ways it is similar to HTML. It uses syntax and keywords rather than binary 
data to convey formatting information. It is therefore relatively human 
readable and unlike .doc files which rely on binary data to convey 
information. Equivalent RTF files are smaller and less likely to contain 
hidden viruses when compared to .doc files, and more programs can read them 
compared to .doc files. Be aware though that opening a 
complex RTF file in older versions of Word or different word processors will 
often lead to unexpected results. Each new version of Word introduces new 
keywords to RTF, so older implementations will usually ignore controls they 
do not understand or have not implemented.
In summary HTML would have to be regarded as preferable to RTF as a way 
forward to enable transfer of  information from .doc files around the 
internet. However, sending RTF attachments would have to be regarded as 
preferable to sending .doc attachments with emails etc.


 On Fri, Jun 06, 2003 at 07:21:54PM +0100, Ramanan Selvaratnam wrote:
> > If people cannot understand why they should use RTF instead of word we
> > should really tell them that they  need some basic education without
> > being shy about it.
> > I did not know of RTF for a very long time until a free software
> > advocate told me about it.
>On Friday 06 Jun 2003 10:13 pm, Chris Croughton wrote:
> I thought RTF was a proprietary format.  Admittedly it's one which MS
> make available, but it's also under their control to change the spec.
> any time they want (and they do, there are some constructs they have
> used which weren't in the spec. available at the time).
>
> Chris C

-- 
Regards,
Mark Preston