When comparing MuPDF vs Jarnal (Java, cross-platform), the Slant community recommends MuPDF for most people. In the question“What is the best software to annotate a PDF?” MuPDF is ranked 2nd while Jarnal (Java, cross-platform) is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose MuPDF is:
It was written in C and opengl, so your hardware was used fully.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Super fast
It was written in C and opengl, so your hardware was used fully.
Pro Vim-mode shortcut keys
Super easy to use with rapid response.
Pro Excellent for presentations
Pro Annotation capability
With mupdf-gl, you can do most of the annotations and comments.
Pro Collaboration over network (although limited)
It is possible to connect multiple Jarnal clients to a single Jarnal server for collaboration on the same document. However, only one person can make changes at a time.
Pro Free and open-source (GPL license)
Cons
Con No print option
Con No two page mode
Con Not enough functionality
If you want "minimal," you got it.
Con The annotation does not have good shortcut key support
Con Cannot customize shortcut keys
Con Some actions are not intuitive
Opening a PDF into Jarnal is not intuitive. The only way I found is by using the supplied shell script. I could not find how to do it from within the UI.
Con Written in Java using Swing toolkit
As with most Java apps, the UI looks alien to all operating systems.