Re. http://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-help/2003/08/08/0004.html

One advantage to HTML is that it's more or a proper standard with multiple
implementations.  (Yes, in principle, there are multiple readers for PDF,
but I've generally had trouble when I tried to use anything but Adobe's
Acrobat.)  And Adobe has an obnoxious license if you deign to use their
Acrobat reader.

I avoid PDF if possible (and it usually---thankfully---is).

Besides, I find it easier, personally, to create HTML files than to create
PDF files.  I can create HTML with vi or any other text editor.  PDF requires
special PDF-writing tools (e.g., a TeX post-processor---and if you start
in TeX, I think that you might as well generate PostScript rather than
PDF, for more compatibility).


I suspect that HTML is used for pkgsrc to unify the local docs with the
online docs (perhaps on the theory that most people will just browse the
web-pages at http://www.NetBSD.org/ rather than [re]build the HTML
pkgsrc docs).

Since pkgsrc isn't part of the base system, much less are the HTML
pkgsrc pages, I don't think that that quite makes a browser necessary
for the base system.  (Though it does add a little weight to the
argument...)


Just my 2.718281828459045 cents worth.


-- 
  "I probably don't know what I'm talking about."  http://www.olib.org/~rkr/