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In the original version of How can I fix the font problem of this pdf file?, I have a pdf file which can be rendered correctly by evince, but the text can't be correctly searched or copied. My intuition is that since the pdf file can be rendered correctly,it is possible to find out the font that evince uses to render the file, and then fix the font problem from there. So I believe the problem can probably be solved based on the symptom alone, without the need for other information .

In the first two comments, I was accused of trying to hack a file with copyright protection, and I said no, and I created the file from another which doesn't have the problem. I was then urged to explain how I created the file. I didn't think information beyond the sympton is necessary to solve the problem, and moreover, it is not easy and could take a while without guarantee to remember exactly what programs and scripts that I applied to create the file, and to narrow down to a specific step. So I left a comment to say so. Then a user who is now a moderator intervened:

Tim, consider someone who wants to help. You're saying: "I have an original file that works correctly. I do some combination of steps, combine it with other files, do some conversions, and now it's corrupted." How much effort do you expect Answerers to undergo, when you could certainly narrow the range considerably?

Although I don't believe how I created my file is necessarily relevant to solve my problem, and although it is not easy and no guarantee to find out how I created the file,I didn't want to have anything directly to do with the particular user, so I took time to test many possible programs that I used to created the file and finally narrowed down the problem to gs command, so I updated my post with my new findings.

Then that user posted a second comment

I'm no PDF expert, but is it possible to provide the original ("correct") PDF so that Answerers can re-run your commands in order to reproduce the issue?

Since he is not an expert, now look back at his first comment, what makes him think how I created the file is necessary to solve the font problem of my pdf file?

Moreover, AFTER I bent myself to his first comment, and made my final update to my post, what does this question in that user's second comment want me to do really: "is it possible to provide the original ("correct") PDF so that Answerers can re-run your commands in order to reproduce the issue"? What kind of image did that user want to paint me, by pretending not seeing my update?

Moreover, my post has been continuously receiving close votes and downvotes, which came from other users triggered by the comments, and which are out of context, and very likely out of personal attacks or discrimination.


The author of the last two comments, since long before becoming a moderator, has been belittling and picking on question posters and their posts including those he has limited knowledge about, and closing (deleting, and downvoting) posts (and provoking other users to do so). When he receives disagreements, he often accuses question posters for not following the site policies and threatens them to leave the site and find somewhere else. His behaviours have obstructed discussions on many valid posts, and triggered other users with similar mindsets to do so. These contradict the mission of a moderator.

That is based on not only my numerous encounters (I could provide the evidences if not yet deleted, if I know how to search for them efficiently, and if my life allows me to spend a lot of time to do so), but also on my observations, for example, not not long ago, in "That is not possible" is a valid answer. he had to apologize after being called out politely by more than one users, but the damage from the obstruction has already been done.

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    I was trying to make your question more Answerable. After you added the link to the original and the steps/commands you took to reproduce the issue, I upvoted your Question. I have not voted to close it.
    – Jeff Schaller Mod
    Commented Jun 8, 2019 at 14:13
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    I'm sorry Tim, but it seems as each time Jeff does anything relating to your questions, you start ranting about abuse of power. In this case, I really can't see what Jeff did wrong. I myself often ask for clarifications to unclear questions, even though I don't know much about the topic (but I can see that there may be information missing), in the hope that a clarified question would attract someone who may know more than I do. That is what any user who cares about the users who asks questions should do.
    – Kusalananda Mod
    Commented Jun 8, 2019 at 23:17
  • @Kusalananda You are under misconception, and I have responded to your comment by updating my post, and also re-read my post to understand what happened after what. I was wondering also where is my last post of that user being unfit for moderator?
    – Tim
    Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 4:19
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    It's here. Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 7:05
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    I don't think Jeff has ever told you to find somewhere else. I have. And I do so again now: please, please, for your sake and ours, please go find another place where you will be happy and where you won't be offended by the local rules. I honestly don't understand why you would want to waste your time in a community as toxic as you clearly think we are. Downvotes and closing are good things. If you don't see that, you will never be happy here, so go elsewhere! And this is not a threat, it is a heartfelt wish and piece of advice. You are not happy here, so why do you insist on staying?
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 12:52
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    Also, Tim, I removed the worst bits of baseless slander you were throwing at Jeff. If you have actual evidence of wrongdowing, take it up with SE, but you don't get to accuse others with no proof.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 12:55
  • @terdon (1) "I don't think Jeff has ever told you to find somewhere else." You did, so did he. You were not invovled, so how did you know he has not? (2) "community as toxic as you clearly think we are." Don't put words into my mouth.
    – Tim
    Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 13:05
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    I am not putting any words in your mouth. You're the one who keeps complaining about how bad things are here and how you find the SE system to be abusive. So I honestly don't understand why you stick around.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 13:06
  • @terdon: Well, since when did I target the ENTIRE or majority of the "community"? I know who I have been talking about. You are now trying to escalate the tension to your imagination and to your advantage.
    – Tim
    Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 13:07
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    Here and here and here and every time you refer to downvotes and closing (the very things that make the site work) as "abuse".
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 13:09
  • @terdon Do you mean the entirty or majority of the "community" abuse? You can open a post to complaint that if you wish
    – Tim
    Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 13:10
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    Yes. The majority downvotes and closes questions. If you feel that's abuse, you should find another site.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 13:11
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    I don't think any of them abuse. You do. Now stop undoing the edits that remove your slander. Slandering other users is against the site's CoC.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Jun 9, 2019 at 13:20
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    Tim, I searched the chat room for my messages containing "Tim" (39 matches over ~2 years) and your messages containing "Jeff" (no matches), because I couldn't remember gossiping about you. The link you gave is from February, and I responded to your "Jeffery can you be less drama?" with a correction to my name and a follow-up question, which you never responded to. If you remember others, those search links should make it easier for you to find them.
    – Jeff Schaller Mod
    Commented Jun 10, 2019 at 0:54
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    Here's a chat message from me that you may have forgotten: "I love it. A good question from Tim :) real code, real consequences, surprising results, clear question"
    – Jeff Schaller Mod
    Commented Jun 10, 2019 at 0:55

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First, nobody accused you of anything at all! I have no idea where you got that from. The comment was:

how do you know that the pdf file requires repairing? .... perhaps it is some form of copy protection

That's not an accusation, it is simply suggesting that maybe the problem is that the file is copy protected and that's why the text cannot be copied.

The next comments are, again, trying to be helpful. We have no way of answering your question if you can't show us the PDF file. And no way of knowing what step of the many you have taken created the problem if you don't tell us those steps.

We're not wizards and cannot magically deduce what command went wrong. If you show us your original file, the problematic file and the commands you ran to create it, then we can try and reproduce your issue and maybe even find a solution.

So instead of complaining about people trying to get enough information to be able to help you, why don't you just give the information those helpful souls are asking for and maybe get an answer?

In fact, now that you have added all the information requested, I could test your command and reproduce it and I have posted an answer. It isn't a very useful one, but it might point you in the right direction, at least. That wasn't possible before you gave the command you ran and the original file.

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