Nearly all the software on my laptop is open source, but one proprietary program I've used nearly daily is Adobe Reader 7, (formerly "Acrobat Reader"). Finally, I've found an open source replacement.

There are a number of PDF readers for Linux, but none I knew of that allowed me to search to text in a document. That seems like a fundamental feature to have, so I used Adobe Reader so I could search in PDFs.

Adobe does make a version of Reader specially for Linux. However, the latest version, 7, has some annoyances. First, it includes a Yahoo! search bar in the toolbar by default. What does viewing PDFs have to do with searching the web? Adobe Reader 7 seems to have become bloated with more than just unnecessary search boxes. It now takes 15 seconds to launch on my laptop, while KPDF loads in under 6 seconds. For something that gets launched several times a day, these little things get noticed!

While the Yahoo search box is easily removed, some kind rotating ad in the Reader toolbar remains. Right now mean advertises "Get better feedback and faster approvals". No Thanks.

Since I upgraded to Mandriva Linux 2006, KPDF 0.4.2 is included, which adds the ability to search documents. Further, it adds the the nice touch of changing the thumbnails that are shown to correspond to patches with matching results. This makes finding and browsing search results even faster.

KPDF fits in perfectly in on a KDE desktop, while Reader is awkward with its own icon set and look-and-feel.

Some further examples: Adode Reader lacks a "Print Preview" choice, and may not default to use the modern CUPS printing system. KPDF integrates seamlessly with the KDE printing system that other applications use.

Scrolling in KDF feels more responsive. If I scroll too fast for KPDF to keep up, to shows me a fuzzy a version of the page immediately to provide context. Adobe Reader has trouble keeping up with scrolling too, but copes much it worse. It just displays blank pages until it catches up! That means that Adobe Reader requires frequent pauses while scrolling so I can see where I am.

I'll still keep Reader around in case I need it for something, but KPDF is a no-compremise replacement for everyday use.