# Are we still doing the \[PDF WARNING!!! OMG!!\] thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 16, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474 "2010-06-16T21:53:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/21 "2010-06-18T02:51:30Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Treating someone as impolite IS the coercion. Saying otherwise is disingenuous. No, having to treat someone who is impolite as if they were perfectly correct in what they do is bullshit. Having reached a certain age, I expect such ridiculous claims from the inherently rude, but give them no credence. It’s just people trying to coerce me into letting everything run _their_ way. They want respect, they give respect. It’s that simple. You need to take a look at your definitions of ‘coercion’ and ‘disingenuous’, they’re both messed up. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/22 "2010-06-18T04:42:38Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Just speaking from my own personal opinion, deciding others have to do some task you can easily do yourself simply as a matter of politeness is not a particularly good principle to use to govern your interactions with other people. It’s already been pointed out several times in this thread that it’s not always possible to identify a pdf by mouseover, either because the link itself doesn’t identify it as a pdf or because you are using a device on which mouseover doesn’t function. So no, some posters can’t do the task itself at all, let alone easily. And of course, no one here has said you “have to” do it. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/23 "2010-06-18T05:15:46Z")
So don’t label your links with warning pdf. Hurray, problem solved. What we really need is a warning in the thread title that this thread is full of whiny bitchiness. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/24 "2010-06-18T05:28:35Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > What we really need is a warning in the thread title that this thread is full of whiny bitchiness. [Moderating] This is ATMB. Let’s try not to rachet up the level of invective being directed at other participants in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/25 "2010-06-18T10:15:48Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Treating someone as impolite IS the coercion. Saying otherwise is disingenuous. Um, no. It would be coercion if, for instance, the moderators issued warnings and bannings for such behavior. But mere social disapprobation is not coercion, and it is silly to claim so. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/26 "2010-06-18T10:34:26Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > So don’t label your links with warning pdf. Hurray, problem solved. What we really need is a warning in the thread title that this thread is full of whiny bitchiness. That doesn’t solve the problem as it has been indicated that if the person does not do this others will think poorly of him. The only purpose in telling someone that you will think poorly of them is to try to change their behavior. It is, in effect, an attempt to punish them for behavior you don’t like. Honestly, I’m okay with telling people, even though I think it messes up my ability to just put a link in the text without interrupting it. But to get righteously indignant because someone else doesn’t want to–that’s just stupid. If you don’t want PDFs autoloading in your browser, disable your PDF plugin, or get an addon that disables plugins like NoScript. Or even get a PDF plugin not from Adobe. Whatever. If you to prevent problems on your machine, the onus is on you. To depend on someone else to provide a courtesy, again, that’s stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/27 "2010-06-18T13:08:22Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That doesn’t solve the problem as it has been indicated that if the person does not do this others will think poorly of him. The only purpose in telling someone that you will think poorly of them is to try to change their behavior. No you misunderstand. There’s no need to tell someone you think they’re impolite, however, there is also no need to grant them the same respect you grant to others who are polite. A person specifically asked about labelling things as ‘pdf’ and got an answer. It would have been rude to lie to him, don’t you think? When someone asks me whether the fork goes on the left or right, I tell them, and don’t usually get accused of being coercive for doing so. Of course some folk are of the opinion that forks just wanna be free, and toss them down willy nilly all over the [tablecloth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablecloth). I don’t have to make a habit of eating with such people in order to not be coercive, now do I? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/28 "2010-06-18T15:37:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But to get righteously indignant because someone else doesn’t want to–that’s just stupid. I haven’t seen anyone expressing righteous indignation in other threads on the board because someone didn’t label a pdf. The OP seems to have raised the issue in response to no specific incident (and I don’t see anyone else citing specific incidents of being pressured to do so). The OP (and others) are apparently simply opposed to other people taking the effort to be polite; they don’t seem to have suffered any actual repercussions themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/29 "2010-06-18T15:46:38Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I haven’t seen anyone expressing righteous indignation in other threads on the board because someone didn’t label a pdf. The OP seems to have raised the issue in response to no specific incident (and I don’t see anyone else citing specific incidents of being pressured to do so). The OP (and others) are apparently simply opposed to other people taking the effort to be polite; they don’t seem to have suffered any actual repercussions themselves. Let’s ask. **Absolute** , **rowrrbazzle** , **BigT** : Has anyone complained about your posting a link to a PDF that was not labeled as such? Have you seen such complaints aimed at others? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/30 "2010-06-18T21:21:16Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > I can’t tell you how much I sympathize that you have the latest computer and that it can’t do something as simple as that. Not all browsers provide a preview of the URL on mouseover. Some users have the status bar turned off to save screen space. Touchscreen platforms with no mouse are somewhat on the increase. Not all links that end up retrieving a PDF will actually say PDF in the link URL. None of these situations is particularly ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474/31 "2010-06-19T01:41:51Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That doesn’t solve the problem as it has been indicated that if the person does not do this others will think poorly of him. The only purpose in telling someone that you will think poorly of them is to try to change their behavior. It is, in effect, an attempt to punish them for behavior you don’t like. > . Find me 3 posts where someone says the equivalent of “I think less of you for not labeling that link to a PDF.” And anyway, what do you think societal norms are? Punishing those who behave in ways the rest of us don’t like and rewarding those who do. Break convention and courtesy if you like but then don’t complain if others regard you as a boor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-doing-the-pdf-warning-omg-thing/543474.md?page=1)