There was interest, or it was simple enough to allow open source implementation to flourish. Even in 2008 there was plenty highly FLOSS to create and view PDF. Flash, OTOH, was a mess.
>There was interest, or it was simple enough to allow open source implementation to flourish.
I used Applix Word to produce my résumé in PDF format when applying to jobs during senior year of college, 1998-1999. I don't remember if Applix itself generated the PDF from its .aw format, or if I used some other tool, but either way I had no trouble doing so from Linux.
Also, PDF specification was available since 1993: https://web.archive.org/web/20150617123515/http://acroeng.ad...