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I had the same thought, but wanted to know why the Author thought they were not. For example, a major issue for self-containment is that EPUB content can embed

I had the same thought, but wanted to know why the Author thought they were not. For example, a major issue for self-containment is that EPUB content can embed external assets. A content document can legally include an image or font file whose src is a URL to a hosted server. This is not hypothetical, either; as of the time of writing, Google Doc's EPUB exporter will emit CSS that will @include external Google Fonts files. The problem is that such an EPUB will not render correctly without an internet connection, nor will it render correctly if Google changes the URLs of its font files. The article raises some interesting ideas. Much like PDF and PDF/A, I would say an EPUB/A standard would be potentially useful.

adamzochowski 3y ago
But same font problem exists with PDFs. If font is not embedded into PDF, or rendered into a vector shape that embedded, then PDF will display garbage.
- BHSPitMonkey 3y ago
  Isn't that solved in PDF/A, which the GP was implying could also be done for EPUB?
  - jasomill 3y ago
    Yes: among other things, PDF/A requires all fonts to be embedded.
BarbaryCoast 3y ago
Thanks for that. I can't read the article, probably because I block WASM (and Javascript) for security. None of my ebook readers have Internet access (for security and for privacy), so none of those internet-only epub files would work for me. This might be "legal", since XHTML was intended for the web, but I assume Google's using it to collect more user interaction data that they can sell to data brokers. FWIW, PDF is simply Postscript that's been compressed. As far as I can tell, almost all documents these days are created with Microsoft Word, TeX, or Postscript. I'm lumping things like PageMaker and LaTeX in with the base they were derived from.
- Symbiote 3y ago
  The article is a WASM EPUB viewer. There's a link shown in the viewer to the EPUB file: https://willcrichton.net/notes/portable-epubs/epubs/portable-epubs.epub https://willcrichton.net/notes/portable-epubs/epubs/portable...

adamzochowski 3y ago

But same font problem exists with PDFs. If font is not embedded into PDF, or rendered into a vector shape that embedded, then PDF will display garbage.

BHSPitMonkey 3y ago
Isn't that solved in PDF/A, which the GP was implying could also be done for EPUB?
- jasomill 3y ago
  Yes: among other things, PDF/A requires all fonts to be embedded.

BarbaryCoast 3y ago

Thanks for that. I can't read the article, probably because I block WASM (and Javascript) for security. None of my ebook readers have Internet access (for security and for privacy), so none of those internet-only epub files would work for me. This might be "legal", since XHTML was intended for the web, but I assume Google's using it to collect more user interaction data that they can sell to data brokers. FWIW, PDF is simply Postscript that's been compressed. As far as I can tell, almost all documents these days are created with Microsoft Word, TeX, or Postscript. I'm lumping things like PageMaker and LaTeX in with the base they were derived from.

Symbiote 3y ago
The article is a WASM EPUB viewer. There's a link shown in the viewer to the EPUB file: https://willcrichton.net/notes/portable-epubs/epubs/portable-epubs.epub https://willcrichton.net/notes/portable-epubs/epubs/portable...