1998.02.14 01:17 "Re: TIFF technote #2", by Tom Lane

Because this document is not an offical addendum to the TIFF spec I have found one manufacturer who generates V6 TIFFs and does not have any plans to follow this 'draft'.

Who is that, exactly? (If you're speaking of Wang, I thought they had been convinced to switch to TN#2; it'd be disappointing to hear that they backslid.)

One possible way to lobby such a holdout is to ask them exactly what interpretation of TIFF 6.0 they use, then walk them through the ambiguities cited in TN#2; then you can ask them if they think they're really improving compatibility with anything else by sticking to whatever-they-thought-TIFF-6.0-was.

Is there any way to convince Adobe to add TN #2 to the offical spec?

It's supposed to be in TIFF 7.0. The problem is that Adobe is expending zero resources on maintaining the TIFF spec; they promised a TIFF 7.0 draft many moons ago, but it has never appeared, and I lack any confidence that it ever will appear from them.

Perhaps those who care about the future of TIFF ought to mount a lobbying campaign to get Adobe to turn over ownership of the TIFF spec to someone who will take better care of it. They've demonstrated that they don't care about TIFF, so maybe they'd be willing to give it up.

                        regards, tom lane
                        organizer, Independent JPEG Group