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I was not expecting this amount of conversation on this topic. Thank you, it's been quite informative.
In summary, I think what I'm hearing is that PDF is far and above more prevalent for 'builders'. For people who like to modify, though, SVG is the preferred format. Ones intended audience should determine the final format. At this time neither format will cover all the bases. I'm leaning towards distributing a zip file which contains both the PDF version as well as SVG versions of each page. I think that would cover most everyone. File sizes may lead me towards separate downloads but I'll have to play around to see.
There were a couple of comments about the quality of SVG drawings. SVG can be extremely precise. If there are inaccuracies in SVG drawings, well, that is the fault of the creator of the drawing, or (less likely) incomplete support of SVG by the software rendering it to the screen or printer.
I suspect there's another level of designer using more CAD type software (and different formats) but they're probably not modifying the work of others so much as generating their own designs.
As for locked PDF files, I look at it much as I look at copyright and intellectual property issues. The creator is making a statement that he or she does not want someone to alter the work. Now, the end user may have the right to make derivative works, but that doesn't mean the original creator has to assist in doing that by giving access to the internals of the document.
As for Pepakura's format: Not even an option for me. I don't see any reason at all to go that route. I don't use Pepakura and I don't see that the format gives any advantage over PDF or SVG.
I also have a slight bias against Adobe which trickles down to PDF (though I suspect PDF is not strictly an Adobe format). In the early, early days of SVG, an Adobe Internet Explorer plug-in was the only practical way to display SVG for most users. Once Adobe acquired MacroMedia (who owned Flash) they pulled their support for SVG because it was seen as a competitor to Flash. In my opinion, they were trying to kill an open standard in order to force people to use their proprietary formats. They certainly set SVG adoption back by years. Now of course, Flash is a mostly dead technology. I've seen these types for conflicts for years now (anybody remember trying to create web pages during the 'browser wars'?) and that's why I've become such a strong a proponent for open source solutions. But this is getting really off-topic....
--jeff
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