Poll: Should PDFs and other documents be auto-Scribd'd?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=175378

by rms • 18 years ago

23 20 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

rms3• 18 years ago

Also, where would the extra link go? To the right of the domain? Left of the domain? In the domain ()?

jauco• 18 years ago

3 hours ago | Pdf/scrib'd | comments

pdf or scrib'd depending on the outcome of the poll

bouncingsoul• 18 years ago

Other: a user site preference (with Scribd on by default – it is a Y Combinator company after all).

rms3• 18 years ago

added

anewaccountname2• 18 years ago

Why not scribd every link to an HTML-based webpage so that we can go through yet another layer of indirection?

aneesh• 18 years ago

Your sarcasm doesn't acknowledge iPaper's potential. PDFs are actually somewhat annoying to open for many people. Scribd's platform independent solution is actually pretty cool.

anewaccountname2• 18 years ago

It depends on Flash, it isn't any more platform independent than the acrobat reader is.

rlm• 18 years ago

So platform independent it doesn't work on devices such as iPhones. ;-)

I say add an extra link or make it a cookie preference, so I can have different settings depending on where I am.

sygzzy• 18 years ago

improve Scribd so it doesn't mangle pdfs.

coderrr2• 18 years ago

off topic, but how do you create a poll?

edu2• 18 years ago

http://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll but you need more than 200 karma points, see http://ycombinator.com/newsnews.html 1 Mar.

coderrr2• 18 years ago

thanks

edu2• 18 years ago

Another option is that the Scribd guys add the feature to download the PDF file.

halo• 18 years ago

They should, but that isn't a solution to the problem in hand, as getting to the file I'd have to load the URL, click to load Flash, wait for Scribd to load, hope Flash on Linux doesn't crash, then click on the save button, then download it again.

ken• 18 years ago

Other ideas:

- check the user-agent and only scribd for Windows (since that seems to be the only platform where people still use, and hence complain about, Adobe Acrobat Reader)

- make a greasemonkey script to auto-scribd any PDF (so people who like it can do it everywhere and the rest of us don't have to bother)

ed• 18 years ago

It's worth noting that due to the separation of pro- options it appears like the board is divided down the center when, in reality, more than 2 out of 3 voters (about 68%) are in favor of Scribd support!

Poll: Should PDFs and other documents be auto-Scribd'd?

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