BitWorking

I'm sure this is related to the feed MIME type discussion we've been having, but I can't figure out what you're trying to say...

Posted by Greg Reinacker on 2003-12-07

Greg,
  What is it about PDF that caused people to put phrases such as "Here is the PDF document, right click to download to disk" on over 1.25 million web pages?

Posted by Joe on 2003-12-07

I always imagine it's because most PDFs are "reference" material that I want to download and save for off-line use.

Posted by Ben Meadowcroft on 2003-12-09

Ben,
  Not quite. I still remember the days when you had to right click to download, because clicking on the link to the PDF just filled your browser with gibberish.

Posted by Joe on 2003-12-09

If you serve yor PDF files with a proper mime type (application/pdf iirc), the browser can handle it and perform the desired action (decided by the user).  It can be downloaded, or viewed in a viewer of the user's choice.

By mandating that it be downloaded the user is interrupted for the download and for the application launch and then has to use another application.

PDFs are linkable resources.  I don't wander around saying "right click this link and download my logo (warning: .gif format)".

Posted by Lou on 2003-12-09

You get about 494,000 more when you use the Microsoft phrase instead: "Save Target As"

Posted by John Beimler on 2003-12-09