[mapguide-internals] End of DWF Viewer Support and Handing Viewer over to the Open Source Community

[Carl Jokl]

My understanding is that AutoDesk are committed to ending support for the DWF
Viewer with MapGuide in the future. For the benefit of those organisations
which depend on using the DWF Viewer is it going to be possible to have the
DWF Viewer Open Sourced in the same way MapGuide Open Source has been. This
will mean that even if AutoDesk don't plan on supporting the viewer that
those still using it are able to improve it / fix bugs or issues with it
themselves. Also open sourcing the DWF Viewer would make it easier for those
who want to create a DWF Viewer on another platform i.e. a Java Applet /
Flash / Silverlight. 

I don't really see a logical argument as to why AutoDesk would deny this
request. As I understand the DWF Viewer is free anyway and so AutoDesk would
not be loosing out on money. As I see it DWF format is not unlike the PDF
Format whereby the viewer is free so that the documents can be easily read
(and others can write their own viewers) but the ability to create documents
in that format is not free and document creation is where money is made.
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