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The unique WWW proposal is a Phrase for Macintosh 4.0 file from 1990, can we open it?

The unique WWW proposal is a Phrase for Macintosh 4.0 file from 1990, can we open it?

2024-02-13 08:06:00

The W3C has a web page with the original WWW proposal from Tim Berners-Lee. One of many downloads says 

The “I can not check it” made me unhappy. There are two different recordsdata (an RTF model and an HTML model generated in 1998 from the unique file). However can we open the unique doc?

The unique doc is 68,608 bytes and file on my Mac says it is a Microsoft Phrase for Macintosh 4.0 file. That matches with TBL’s word on the W3C web page saying: “A hand conversion to HTML of the unique MacWord (or Phrase for Mac?) doc written in March 1989 and later redistributed unchanged aside from the date added in Could 1990.” 

Microsoft Workplace for Mac got here out in 1989 with System 6.0. That was Microsoft Phrase 4.0 so we’re searching for compatibility with Microsoft Phrase for Macintosh 4.0. Let’s examine what fashionable software program can open this. What I really need to have the ability to do is open it and convert it to, say, PDF with excessive constancy.

Microsoft Phrase

Let’s start with Microsoft Phrase itself. I uploaded the file to Microsoft OneDrive with the extension .doc and clicked on it to open it in Microsoft Phrase.

Apple Pages

I switched to the Mac and hoped that Apple Pages may perceive an previous Microsoft Phrase for Macintosh file. No such luck.

Apache OpenOffice

Subsequent let’s hope open supply software program will come to the rescue. I downloaded the newest Apache OpenOffice and it did open the file however the formatting is gone and the diagrams are lacking.

LibreOffice

OK, possibly I would like completely different open supply software program, so I switched to the newest LibreOffice and it opened it. And the diagrams are crisp! Though there’s one thing bizarre concerning the margins and there are different formatting issues.

CERN PDF

CERN makes accessible a PDF version of the proposal which was apparently created in 1998 utilizing Acrobat Distiller Daemon 2.1 for SunOS/Solaris (SPARC). It has 20 pages. The LibreOffice imported model has 24 pages. 

To get an outline of what is completely different I created a PDF from the LibreOffice model after which checked out it and the CERN PDF within the contact sheet model in Apple Preview.

Here is the CERN PDF:

Here is the LibreOffice-generated PDF:

Issues which might be completely different:

1. The precise-hand margin is lacking within the LibreOffice model.

2. The LibreOffice model is utilizing 14 pt vs. 12 pt for a lot of the textual content.

3. The LibreOffice model has turned headers with TBL’s initials in them into footers.

4. The web page breaks look in the best locations (see how the pictures are appropriately positioned in direction of the top); thus it is most likely the font measurement that is the largest downside.

See Also

5. There CERN PDF has an area beneath the heading and the LibreOffice model doesn’t.

Emulation

To make it possible for I knew what the precise authentic doc seemed like I made a decision to make use of Infinite Mac as well a 1990-era Macintosh and run precise Phrase for Macintosh 4.0 on the unique doc.

That means I can see precise fonts, font sizes and structure to substantiate how the doc ought to have seemed. And that is the place it grew to become apparent that the unique doc on the unique Mac and the CERN PDF are fairly completely different. The CERN PDF has 20 pages. On the Mac operating Phrase for Macintosh 4.0 with A4 paper it has 22 pages. So I made a decision to purpose to get us near the unique doc on the Mac.

So… set to A4 paper and set proper margin to similar measurement as left margin. Change the primary web page format to be completely different because it does not have the identical gutters, footers or headers. Manually change the physique textual content from 14 pt (and different sizes) to 12 pt. Manually take care of textual content that breaks throughout pages incorrectly and different alignment issues. Repair the footer that needs to be a header.

Ultimately I received fairly near what’s seen on the Mac. 

Conclusion

Changing this doc from its authentic format was a little bit of a victory for open supply software program. And a lesson in how laborious doc preservation is. To assist protect it a bit, and in an open format, I’ve uploaded my .odt model to GitHub here. It is fascinating, and a bit of disheartening to see that this 34 12 months previous doc is tough to open, and even when opened the ensuing output is not precisely the identical as the unique.

PS In case you’re questioning why I ever began this mission. I simply needed a top quality model of the diagrams within the authentic proposal for a presentation. Took me loads longer than I believed it might.

PPS A comment on Hacker Information identified that I may most likely both create a PostScript file or a PDF through an emulated Mac. I used to be capable of boot one other Mac (System 7) that had Phrase from 1992 and Print2PDF (a driver that creates a printer that makes a PDF file) and print straight from Phrase for Macintosh 5.1a.

I’ve added the generated PDF file to the GitHub. This model has 20 pages and the fonts are completely different but it surely does meet my authentic requirement of a PDF.

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