Note: I have CCed this email to the mailing list of `Free Software Foundation`, so that you can get more inputs on the same issue.
eGov INDIA egovindia@yahoo.com writes:
The most commonly used open format for publishing documents is the PDF format. It was formerly proprietary but has become open. HTML is yet another format. Recently, some corporate and community initiatives have brought about the Open Document Format (ODF) standard., which aims at stardizing the document format and keeping it open across all platforms.
One approach would be to use the OpenOffice.org (OO.o). OO.o is a popular 'Free/Libre Open Source' Office suite which can handle a number of open formats including the ODF (since version 2.0) onwards. The OO.o has support to convert documents written in the ODF to HTML, PDF and other supported formats. This would be as easy as typing the content in Microsoft Word and then doing a `Save As` to various types of outputs.
The above approach would be suitable for a technically not-so-capable person to publish the document in a open format.
A more professional (and recommended) approach would be to use the LaTeX document preparation system. This would require a person skilled in LaTeX. In this model, the document is typed using any text editor and is similar to HTML. Then the LaTeX document is processed using the 'latex' program with suitable commandline parameters to convert it to a PDF or HTML file. The LaTeX document preparation model has been standardised, and there are various implementations to process the LaTeX files., and covert them to required forms. 'MikTex' is a Free Software latex implemention on Windows. A LaTeX implementation is a vital part of every GNU/Linux distribution. The presentation for all related documents can be customised using one single 'style file'.
LaTeX is basically a macro language built over the TeX typesetting system written by Donald E Knuth., and is used around the world for publications of all kinds varying from books, letters, technical documents, etc.
So., what can be done is.,
- A style file should be created to give a common layout and look-and-feel for all the related documents.
- The documents should be written using the LaTeX document preparation model.
- Then using programs like 'pdflatex', 'latex' and related tools., the LaTeX documents can be converted to PDF, HTML, DVI and other such presentable formats.
I would personally recommend the second approach (of using LaTeX), since it is more flexible towards the maintenance of the documents in the longer run., as all the actual source files would be just plain text.
Thanks Sincerely,
Joe