For $39.95 one can purchase statistical abstracts of the US from 1878 to
the 21st century. According to the blurb, it runs on Mac and Windows
using Adobe software. Naturally, I'd like to know whether it will run
under Linux systems and xpdf.

Here is some of the blurb:

This incredible set of two DVD-ROMs has over 146,000 pages reproduced
using Adobe Acrobat PDF software - allowing direct viewing on Windows
and Macintosh systems. The Acrobat cataloging technology adds enormous
value and uncommon functionality to this impressive collection of
government documents and material. (The material on this disc is also
published under another title, ISBN 1592484425.)

and

These DVD-ROM discs are for use in a computer DVD drive. The files can
be accessed from the File Explorer in the same way that you open files
from a CD-ROM disc; the CD-ROM and DVD-ROM formats are functionally
the same, but the DVD has more than six times greater storage
capacity. Of course, these discs cannot be "played" in a DVD player
connected to a television set. They contain computer-formatted data,
not video.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler <ara@zurich.csail.mit.edu>
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.