[geeks] Windows in the DoD

[Nadine Miller]

Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:

> Another example of a current/future problem is documentation.  As part
> of a 'paper saving' initiative, a lot of documentation for warfighting
> equipment is in PDF form only.  Worse, it is often an image scan instead
> of a real PDF, and they almost never produce usable ascii versions.
> 
> Imagine lying in noxious fumes in a stricken submarine, in the dark,
> trying to read a 14 inch laptop display of a scanned in manual for the
> system you are repairing, while the enemy is trying to finish you off.
> 
> So what does everyone do?  Yep, they print out the manuals at N times
> the cost of a published manual, and usually 3 times the size.
> 
> If the military wanted to save paper, why didn't they move to an
> on-demand publishing system, and only print the copies they need?

Having worked in the SGML world for a while, I can speak to this 
issue a bit.

The US Gov't is the largest publisher in the world.  SGML (and, 
as a result, XML) got started because the gov't realized it could 
force suppliers to give them info in whatever formfactor the 
gov't desired.

I can't speak to the state of the "electronic technical manual" 
at the moment, but I know that the goal was to get all the 
manuals with whatever supporting material was necessary into an 
non-proprietary electronic form that could be rendered into 
whatever system on demand.  E.g. SGML, which would then massaged 
into paper (possibly PDFs), specialized electronic delivery 
systems (e.g. training systems or full-blown technical manuals 
w/video, audio, etc.), or simply provided in source form.

The drive to reduce the paper on a ship is all about the weight 
of the paper.  Remove all the repair manuals on a destroyer, and 
the water line goes down 12 feet.  That weight can be replaces 
with armor, weapons, munitions, tracking equipment, or more/ 
better food and recreational materials for the sailors.

=Nadine=