I'm not inclined to disagree with you Erinja as regards the 'kompetenteco' of the mass of Esperantistoj. One has to laugh about the figures that are bandied around as to the number of speakers (this without qualification as to level).

However, the ease with which files and messages can be interchanged on the Net means that a collaborative effort can be superior to the product of any one individiual.

The Net facilitates both the division of labour and cross-checking.

It must have been so much harder in the 30's working on a translation without PIV, PG, searchable corpuses (like at Tekstaro.com) and ready access to speakers of other languages.

Of course, to the extent that the Net in general is very much the playground of amateurs working independently, so errors in all subjects are to be expected.

Yes Ceigered, I used competent in the sense of 'kompetenta' as defined in PIV2005 (a valid sense of the English word according to my OED).

Comparing the English edition of 'Murder on the Orient Expess' with the Esperanto translation, I am coming across an increasing number of examples where the Esperanto is a somewhat condensed version of the English.

I can't decide whether the translator had it in mind to keep the language at an easy-read level, or had to do the translation very quickly.

Anyway, as I have the book in pdf form, it set me wondering whether you can edit pdf files - I have never thought of doing so before and never tried it.

It might be amusing to try 'improving' the text, and making a fresh translation available for others to download.

I think too, that there are some instances where the text would be slightly different in 21st-century Esperanto.

sudanglo:Anyway, as I have the book in pdf form, it set me wondering whether you can edit pdf files - I have never thought of doing so before and never tried it.

It might be amusing to try 'improving' the text, and making a fresh translation available for others to download.

I think too, that there are some instances where the text would be slightly different in 21st-century Esperanto.

You can edit PDF's if you find right software, but if the pages have been scanned into PDF as pictures then you will need to retype the page. Or download a picture to text program.

Evildela:

sudanglo:Anyway, as I have the book in pdf form, it set me wondering whether you can edit pdf files - I have never thought of doing so before and never tried it.

It might be amusing to try 'improving' the text, and making a fresh translation available for others to download.

I think too, that there are some instances where the text would be slightly different in 21st-century Esperanto.

You can edit PDF's if you find right software, but if the pages have been scanned into PDF as pictures then you will need to retype the page. Or download a picture to text program.

Also, if your aim is not as much as editing pdf but just to create one, Office Word 2007 will suffice.