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Comment by esalman | Hacker News Reader

While we're at it let's stop using PDF files too /s

There's a variant of arXiv.org called ar5iv.org which renders papers in HTML5 instead of PDF. It is very handy when reading papers in a browser and it is generated from the same LaTeX files. You just need to replace the "x" with "5" in the URL:

https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.11408

https://ar5iv.org/abs/1807.11408

Why would I want completely broken layouting instead of artfully crafted one? PDF does its job absolutely well, sure it won’t accommodate to your screen but there is no automatic way of laying out the content in a way that it makes sense both semantically, and from a design perspective. That figure 10 pages down is completely useless, I want to see it when it is referenced in the text. I really have a hard time reading anything that requires more formatting that a novel in anything else than properly rendered PDF.

I don't really understand. Which figure is 10 pages down in the example that I linked?

Nice, thanks. I knew of arxiv vanity as well- https://www.arxiv-vanity.com/papers/1708.06733/

Not sure why you're being sarcastic. PDF is terrible for anything other than printing documents.

It is perfect for its job, and nothing else comes even close to it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36948776

Yet they persist. So does latex, even in 2023. There is intrinsic value in both that OP does not want to acknowledge.

And mp3 persists despite being inferior to any alternative. The reason isn't intrinsic value, it's inertia.

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