glad i read this, even if two years too late. there are some points that people excited by the cutting-edge would not like, but it totally makes sense.
Lessons learned from 15 years of SumatraPDF, an open source Windows app (2021)
151–160 of 175 posts
Re: Lessons learned from 15 years of SumatraPDF, an open source Windows app (2021)
#152>It prevents circular dependencies between .h files and doesn't inflate C++ build times because of careless including the same files over and over again.
Ah, the C/C++ modularity story is such a monstrosity... but modules are coming, and the build times are drastically decreased.
Re: Lessons learned from 15 years of SumatraPDF, an open source Windows app (2021)
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
Likewise, I'd never trust a software engineer in a suit, unless it's for a project written in Java or COBOL. Nor a sysadmin that isn't wearing black, running Linux and/or listening to metal. Unless they have a white beard, then you know they have been around for a while. (Just partially serious here, don't read too much into it. But you know it's true.)
Much like some people like wearing a nice watch, pants, etc, I like wearing a nicely cut suit or jacket. Is that really any different to people wearing a comfortable pair of jeans? And paradoxically, I have carried server equipment wearing an italian suit, whilst others were bemoaning dust getting on their levis jeans... So please, please don't judge a book by it's cover. Actions speak louder.
Carrying server equipment wearing an italian suit is an action though !
Re: Lessons learned from 15 years of SumatraPDF, an open source Windows app (2021)
#154I agree with his points about treating it like commercial software (in terms of having a website/screenshots/etc) but paradoxically the more professional an open source site looks, the more I assume there's going to be a catch. When you find a utility which has a site that looks like Richard Stallman's website you breathe easily because it's unlikely there's going to be any time-limited trial version, subscription mo…
In case someone didn't know what a website of commercial software looks like, here you go: https://www.office.com/
Re: Lessons learned from 15 years of SumatraPDF, an open source Windows app (2021)
#155What is the best PDF viewer app on Mac that is closest to Sumatra?
Re: Lessons learned from 15 years of SumatraPDF, an open source Windows app (2021)
#156I agree with his points about treating it like commercial software (in terms of having a website/screenshots/etc) but paradoxically the more professional an open source site looks, the more I assume there's going to be a catch. When you find a utility which has a site that looks like Richard Stallman's website you breathe easily because it's unlikely there's going to be any time-limited trial version, subscription mo…
On the contrary. As a user, if I cannot see that the software makers are either a big, well backed project OR at least they are able to sustain themselves by selling premium versions etc, I avoid using it. Most of the projects that cannot fund themselves eventually get abandoned, leaving you, as the user, hanging. After getting burned by that a few times, I learned that the only way to deal with it was to ensure that…
I use two abandoned projects: text editor and ebook reader, they work better than alternatives.
Re: Lessons learned from 15 years of SumatraPDF, an open source Windows app (2021)
#157This makes for a quite compelling case relating to the Casey Muratori video around clean code that made the tech community rounds recently. The developer of SumatraPDF has rolled his own implementations for a lot of things in order to reduce bloat and it shows! The app is lightning fast and does its job perfectly. Wish we had more native projects like that!
100% agreed! I’ve switched go Sumatra PDF roughly 5 years ago, after Adobe Reader became just absurdly slow. It’s crazy how a hobbyist can make product that’s vastly better than a multibillion dollar company.
Let's be honest, Sumatra PDF succeeded because Acrobat Reader was so sad.
Re: Lessons learned from 15 years of SumatraPDF, an open source Windows app (2021)
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It also blows my mind that Windows still doesn't come with a proper built-in PDF viewer like macOS does. Usually that viewer is the browser, so by default Edge is the default PDF viewer.
Part of the push to use the browsers pdf engine was a result of Adobe acrobat being an endless festival of security bugs. Loading it in the browser allows them to reuse the same sandboxing. Pretty good idea for most folk. I like sumatrapdf because it keeps track of the pdfs I have open and the page. Like having an ebook reader on windows that doesn't suck.
> Part of the push to use the browsers pdf engine was a result of Adobe acrobat being an endless festival of security bugs.
The browsers are also "an endless festival of security bugs." Especially since they started to execute remote code. I can't view pdfs in browser. I need to zoom, find, and copy parts of (electronical schematics) pdfs and the browser version just sucks.
Re: Lessons learned from 15 years of SumatraPDF, an open source Windows app (2021)
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
> but paradoxically the more professional an open source site looks, the more I assume there's going to be a catch I hate to admit this, but I feel the same way when it comes to programmers themselves. I've tried very, very hard to be mindful of this in an effort to correct it, but I still have this gut feeling when I encounter a fellow programmer with the general put-together-ness of someone in the C-suite. What mak…
I’m far from cover-of-GQ but I did wear a suit every day for a few years to a programming job. Maybe it’s the punk in me but when every person in the company, including the C suite, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans or sweats I felt the need to be a little counter culture. Honestly it was an insightful experiment in biases, seeing how different people treated me (such as your admission) based on my clothes alone. … and…
" Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society." Mark Twain
Re: Lessons learned from 15 years of SumatraPDF, an open source Windows app (2021)
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is it sad? Every time I see a piece of software that provides a lot of value and it’s not focused on money-making (ublock for example) it gives me a warm feeling.
Because there is something ironic about people (in general, including those here) dreaming about well paying jobs, but then wanting high quality products that have been worked on by people without compensation, when that time could have been invested by the worker (developer in this case) working another paid job, spending time with loved ones, and the like.
I don't think that Google, Apple or Microsoft employees are not payed. And the quality of those products just isn't there.
I mean, my employer paid 500 euros for an Iphone which maybe costs 50 euros to be produced. From those 450 euros is an Apple engineer not able to test the smalest phone with bigger fonts and to implement proper hyphenation on menu items ?