I would suggest that all core choices be supported on all three major platforms, Windows, MacOS, and Linux/UNIX. This rule ensures wide support, and pretty much precludes proprietary lock-in.
In the Windows worlds, it's pretty easy to accidentally become windows-dependent, and be trapped in the Windows Upgrade Treadmill. Requiring demonstrated support for at least one of the the other two platforms prevents accidental addiction. ActiveX controls are a particular danger.
Avoiding the treadmill is another big reason to stick with plain old ISO C.
I agree. If I register, then more junk mail is likely. As if we don't already get enough junk mail.
[snip]Works on MacOS too.
Aside from problems with proprietary lock-in, there is the problem with formats becoming obsolete and becoming orphans, so the core formats should be both open and widely used for decades, with a large enough user base to ensure perpetual support, whatever the fortunes of the current supporting entities.
Although pdf is proprietary, it is documented. Adobe publishes the full file format in a widely available book, allowing widespread 3rd-party support. So, documents prepared using even Word and then converted to pdf will be understandable forever, even if both MS and Adobe were to vanish. The problem occurs when one wants to update the original document, although there are tools to go from PDF to MS Word.
The problem is that plain ASCII doesn't do drawings very well, so someone's drawing package will be needed.
Nor does ascii do justice to mathematical equations. Internet RFCs are all plain ascii, except for RFC-1305 (NTPv3). The reason that 1305 was given an exemption was that there was no way to render the equations in ascii.
Joe Gwinn