- Inkscape Devel - Inkscape Mailman

Xara Announcement
by Bryce Harrington 14 Oct '05

14 Oct '05

Hi all, The big news with Xara is finally coming out today. :-) Xara has ported their product to Linux and will be Open Sourcing it. For more details, see http://xaraxtreme.org/. A press release is coming out, and is appended to this message. Charles Moir has been talking with me about this privately for the past couple months. His interest is to see Inkscape and Xara be in collaboration rather than competition, and I've been sharing ideas (such as the XAR/SVG project) along these lines. I've suggesting that merging inkscape and xara codebases would probably be impractical, but it might be possible to take the best bits of both and create something better than either, down the road. It seemed wisest in the near term for them to release what they've got, and to focus on making it work on Linux, which they've now done. :-) The key question for us is how we want to relate to Xara when the code is released. Would it make sense for us to share code with Xara? Should we merge, or remain distinct? They'd be open to sharing svn repositories if we'd like (I mentioned we've been looking to upgrade from cvs, and they already use svn)? Anyway, check it out (a Linux binary preview is downloadable, and there's also a pretty sweet movie) and share your thoughts. Bryce ----- Forwarded message from Charles Moir <CharlesM@...1042...> ----- Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:29:31 +0100 From: Charles Moir <CharlesM@...1042...> To: Bryce Harrington <bryce@...1...> Subject: Xara Open Source announcement It's happening any time soon. FYI this is a copy of the press release we'll be sending out to Linux press. Note comments about Inkscape lower down. Hope OK with you (I don't think this has anything that I've not already passed by you). The XaraXtreme.org site is also up and the FAQ has a few mentions of Inkscape.. Again nothing new I don't think. The FAQ will likely be updated to take into account feedback I've already got from some people. Some of the other links won't work until we've completed updating the website later today. Regards, Charles PS I've not contacted any of the developers you passed to me, mostly because we're just not ready to do this yet (spending all our time getting this stuff ready), but I hope to do that soon, and do intend that these be some of the first people we'll invite to get access to the codebase. PPS I spoke to a Stephen someone from newsforge recently, he was doing a story on the Uber-converter. I put him in touch with Eric, but he came back later asking for your contact details, so we gave him your email address I think. Hope OK. He maybe in touch. ---------------------------------- News Release 11th October, 2005 Xara announces Xtreme Open Source Xara plans to shake up the Linux, Mac and Open Source world with three major announcements. 1) A new product Xara Xtreme - the fastest most versatile graphics software available 2) Plans to create Linux and Mac versions 3) Plans to Open Source it. "Few companies can take the announcement that Microsoft intend to get into their market, lying down." says CEO Charles Moir. Xara, developer of popular Windows graphics software, is making a move to defend themselves against Microsoft moving into their market, and at the same time is attempting to change the graphics landscape. Xara Xtreme Firstly Xara is announcing the release of a new product, Xara Xtreme. It's built on Xara's history of developing successful, award winning and innovative graphics software for 15 years. This is a new cross-category graphics application that can handle photos, business graphics, drawing and illustration needs. Charles Moir, CEO of Xara, said "It absolutely knocks the stuffing out of Adobe and the new Microsoft product. In terms of ease of use, shear flexibility and performance. Adobe has tried for 10 years to get close to our performance levels and cannot. Microsoft are not going to be able to either. I guarantee it". Xara Xtreme is available for Windows now, at just $79 Linux and Mac versions Secondly Xara plans to create Linux and Mac versions of the graphics application. Charles said, "Many of our users are Mac and Linux enthusiasts who, often reluctantly, use Windows to run our software because it's only been available on Windows. For years we've had requests from Mac and Linux users to create versions for their platforms. Our plans are to change the graphics software landscape forever, and that means we have to be cross-platform" The Linux desktop has come on leaps and bounds in the last year or so. But there is scarcity of really slick, finished applications, especially in the graphics arena. Our goal is to create the greatest general purpose desktop graphics application that has ever existed and for this to be a first class Linux and Mac citizen. Ironically, given the percentage of graphic professionals using Macs, there are few, if any, high quality, high performance, low cost Mac graphics applications. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop dominate, but those can cost more than a new Mac. That's outrageous. With Macromedia being acquired by Adobe, choice for Mac users just took a turn for the worse. We can help address that." Open Source Thirdly Xara intends to make the new software Open Source. Charles said "We're going to a place that Microsoft and Adobe cannot go. The Open Source world is the acknowledged largest threat to established giants such as Microsoft. We felt it was necessary for us to shake up the graphics world a bit, and making one of the most powerful, easiest to use graphics applications Open Source should do the trick." To stand any chance of establishing a following in the Linux world you have to make the product free and Open Source, so despite the risks involved, that's what we're doing. We have a load of technology that's better than anything Microsoft or Adobe have. By making this Open Source (GPL) we believe we can help the Linux platform compete in the mainstream graphics arena better than it ever has before. We used to develop for alternative platforms, such as the Acorn RISC computer in the 1990s, and so fundamentally Xara Xtreme is based on a cross-platform core. Of course, we are aware of Inkscape, an existing Open Source vector graphics program that has an active developer community, but is far from complete. We've been in discussion with Inkscape people, who have enthusiastically welcomed us. Our short term goal is to create a fully working Xara Xtreme as it exists now. After that we've agreed to work with Inkscape to determine how best to create a 'best of both world's' product. Xara Xtreme, made Open Source (released under GPL) and available on Linux will make a huge difference to the platform. We believe it will significantly accelerate the acceptance of the platform as an alternative to Windows. Down the road, combine the best of Inkscape and Xara, and you've got something that has the potential to disrupt the established world that is dominated by Adobe and Microsoft. Graphics desktop applications are a cornerstone of any modern desktop OS. We have what we (and many others) believe is the best desktop graphics application there is. By making it Open Source, by making it available on Windows, Mac and Linux, we hope to change the graphics software landscape forever" Demo movie If you want to see what Xara Xtreme can do, there are demo movies available in various formats here http://www.xaraxtreme.org/about/ Demo download Xara has been working on a new cross-platform version (Linux, Mac and Windows) for some time and have a simple viewer (Linux only) demonstration available. You can find more details here: http://www.xaraxtreme.org/download/ More Info See the Xara Xtreme website at http://www.xara.com/products/xtreme/ Or the Xara Open Source website at http://www.xaraxtreme.org <http://www.xaraxtreme.org/> Photo http://www.xara.com/press/photos.asp Charles Moir, founder and CEO of Xara, in front of the UK headquarters of Xara Ltd This historic location is also used as a location for film and TV work, including Rory Bremner, Little Britain, Musical videos for Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Will Young and other films and commercials EDITORS: For further details please contact: Nova Fisher, Communications Director, nova@...1042... <mailto:nova@...1042...> About Xara Xara has been developing low-cost mass-market software since the early years of the Microcomputer era, in 1981. It has focused mostly on publishing related software products, starting from Wordwise, a hugely popular Word Processor in the '80s, to desktop publishing software (Impression) and graphics products in the '90s for the Acorn RISC computer. Xara's first Windows product, Xara Studio was quickly snapped up and marketed by Corel in the late '90s. The rights were acquired back from Corel and it has since evolved into Xara X and the most recent Xara Xtreme. Xara has particularly strong technology and innovation history. It pioneered many of the graphics technologies and techniques used by industry today. It was the first to introduce vector anti-aliasing, the first with vector transparency and graduated transparency, the first vector feathering. Many of its User Interface techniques have been adopted by the industry. The graphics engine that is at the core of Xara Xtreme still remains the world's most powerful. The technologies used to create Xara Xtreme have been developed by Xara over the years and incorporates many pioneering features. It has been modelled on the successful Xara X? (sold for $179) as used by many professional graphics and illustration artists but has been significantly re-engineered to open it up to third-party plug-in developers. ----- End forwarded message -----

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] about dialog copy
by Ben Fowler 14 Oct '05

14 Oct '05

On 10/14/05, Ben Fowler <ben.the.mole@...400...> wrote: > On 10/13/05, bulia byak <buliabyak@...400...> wrote: > > On 10/13/05, MenTaLguY <mental@...3...> wrote: > > > is nearly there, but doesn't quite cut it since that sort of sounds like > > > it comes with Windows or OS X. :/ > > > > "Included with the Best Linux Distributions. Available On Request to > > the Respected Users of Windows 2K/XP and OSX." :) > > What about an echo of the phrase "available at all good bookshops". THIS _excellent_ Vector Graphics Application is recommended for the generation of Fine Artwork for use on the World Wide Web, for Print, Games, Desktop Icons, Cartography, and sundry purposes to which Scalable Vector Graphics are most expedient. Based upon the ubiquitous Extensible Markup Language, advised for graphical purposes demanding Crystal-Clear Images, Programmatic Modification or Dynamic Content Generation ; and where Scripting and Interactivity via the celebrated Document Object Model are required, Inkscape is the quintessence of perfection. PERSONS EMPLOYING BITMAPPED GRAPHICS, which are subject to Aliasing, Blurring, Large File Size, and Difficulty of Correction or Subsequent Modification, should all promptly investigate the incomparable benefits of our Vector Graphics without delay. Provided at no extra charge in the Finest Linux Distributions. ... ----------- I'd like to squeeze in something about large cats, and the 'alternative Operating System', but that would be ridiculously unfair to the Windows devs here. Shouldn't there be a reference to Gnome or GTK ... Ben (Who probably pressed the wrong reply button a moment ago)

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Inkscape as console application
by Ben Fowler 14 Oct '05

14 Oct '05

(This may be off-charter for Inkscape Devel, in which case I apologise). I was stepping through inkscape under gdb (on BSD without X) and found that the "sp-console-main( )" seems to have a code path that calls gdk_devices_list() (whilst loading preferences). Is this intentional? It is possible that I am talking nonsense, and I have somehow messed up the sources, but there are a number of concerns if there is any merit in what I am saying. I would certainly like to have an X-free or no-X command-line or console version of Inkscape, and I would be interested in any thoughts. Ben

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comitted: revised about dialog
by MenTaLguY 14 Oct '05

14 Oct '05

I ended up having trim the copy down a bit to make it fit. Also, per buila's suggestion, the closing paragraph is now: "Available from most fine Linux Distributions, or obtained direct for Windows or Mac OS X at 8 b. per byte: http://www.inkscape.org" Aside from the copy changes, I removed some leftover vector bits (namely a very fine stroked path that was interfering with the Inkscape logo), softened the '3' to match the '4', and re-enabled the coffee stains. Personally I think the stains add character, but if y'all don't like them, they're just a layer we can hide or delete. -mental

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[CharlesM@...1042...: RE: Linux port]
by Bryce Harrington 13 Oct '05

13 Oct '05

Here is some confirmation that Xara isn't expecting copyright assignment. Bryce ----- Forwarded message from Charles Moir <CharlesM@...1042...> ----- Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2005 21:55:00 +0100 From: Charles Moir <CharlesM@...1042...> To: Mike Hearn <mike@...869...> Cc: bryce@...1... Subject: RE: Linux port > >From the discussion on inkscape-devel, a sticking point for some is the > need for copyright assignment. I'm not sure about the technicalities of > this, I guess it depends on exactly what Xara want to do and what the > Inkscape guys find acceptable. For instance I doubt they'd object to you > reselling Xara with some proprietary extra bits like Pantone colours, > but reselling their code as proprietary code on the components market > (as DLLs/OCXs for instance) might be off limits. > > What I'd suggest is jumping on the Inkscape list yourselves and trying > to hammer out a middle ground - find out what you want to do, what the > Inkscape guys find agreeable and see if there's any common ground. Yep, I've seen this and they are making assumptions that we'll need or want copyright assignment (same feeling on Slashdot from some) - we've never said anything like that. I'll quote from my guy Alex who knows most about license issues; -------------- Just to clarify, we will *NOT* be requiring copyright assignment. There are two reasons for this: 1. The code will be released GPL. Not a GPL variant, but GPL. This means you can do *WHAT YOU LIKE WITH IT* subject to the normal GPL license conditions (I'm sure you guys are already familiar with them). So saying we are requiring something in order for you to use, modify, or distribute the code is not accurate. 2. We will be maintaining the "official" Xara tree (i.e. the one with the Xara name on it) - anyone else is free to maintain their own tree. That's the beauty of open source. The only sense in which we are planning to "require" anything is that if you want your modification to get into our tree, it has to jump certain hurdles. Some of those are to do with making sure at least one of our trees stays relatively bug-free and the architecture is consistent. Another will be to do with licensing. This is because we want to be able to issue a proprietary version as well. This is for two reasons: firstly, we need to continue to survive as a company. Secondly, there is stuff we simply can't open source - certainly right now - for instance commercially licensed third party components such as the Pantone library. Both of these things, we think, are *good* for the Open Source program. Having an open-source program that is able to produce artwork that is (for instance) easily printed using colour separations and spot colours (even if this involves the use of a commercial version at one stage in the process) is clearly better than being unable to support it at all. Equally, having us able to fund full-time developers means both versions benefit. 3. Lastly, we will NOT be requiring copyright assignment. Assignment means you (the assignor) would lose your rights to us (the assignee). We do not intend to ask for that, and to do so would be totally unfair. What we will be asking for is for some sort of license that will allow us to use your code in our commercial version as well, but will allow the original author to retain *all* their copyright rights. We know the question here is "well why should you guys get any special benefit?". The answer to that is that we're putting a lot of code into the open-source domain. One thing we are thinking about is asking contributors who want their code to get into the official tree to dual license the code GPL/BSD (to the extent they have copyright). That would mean if there is an independent feature someone is contributing, then it's not only us that can use it in a commercial version. We are open to suggestions on how this is achieved. I'd get involved in the Inkscape list if I had a second. Hopefully when things have quietened down a bit - getting a bit inundated here. But by all means pass these comments on, as from us. I like the idea of dual license GPL/BSD for contributions - allows us to use the code, BSD is hugely popular license, doesn't take anything away from GPL or the rights of the contributor. But as Alex says we're open to suggestions on how to best achieve this. If there's absolutely no way we can incorporate a certain feature in a commercial version, then fine it just wont ever get into our main version. But does that help anyone? We're not taking anything away from the developer, we're not asking for copyright assignment and so I'd hope that wouldn't be a problem. > Of course, this assumes the code bases are similar enough to be > mergable. Inkscape uses fairly regular C++ but if Xara is riddled with > COM/MFC idioms it might cause issues Pretty clean OO design and C++ from day one. In fact from day one it was designed to be platform portable. We just never got around to doing any port other than Windows. No COM / MFC in the core at all - that's why and how we got the viewer working so quickly (which is all the main core tree building / rendering pipeline / engine stuff). > For what it's worth I'm also a Wine developer, working for CodeWeavers. Ha, I know Jon Parshall, COO of CodeWeavers. Big Xara fan and user (does amazingly detailed illustrations with Xara actually). He's shown me Xara X working on an as yet unreleased Codeweavers Office, so Wine must be getting very near to being able to do this. Obviously not the way we want to go, but would be damn useful to be able to run the Window version side by side with the Linux version just for test and compare purposes. Anyway thanks for the feedback, Regards, Charles ----- End forwarded message -----

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about dialog copy
by MenTaLguY 13 Oct '05

13 Oct '05

Here's my first crack at fresh copy for the about dialog; I've not tried to make it fit in the available space yet. Basically I am imitating the style of Victorian-era advertising copy, without making claims TOO overly grand by modern standards (I mean, I hope people would recognize it as tongue-in-cheek, but...): --- THIS _excellent_ Vector Graphics Application is recommended for the generation of Scalable Vector Graphics for use on the World Wide Web, for Print, Games, Desktop Icons, Cartography, and all other sundry purposes to which Scalable Vector Graphics are best suited. Based upon the inimitable Extensible Markup Language, for graphical purposes demanding Crystal-Clear Scalability, Programmatic Modification and Dynamic Content Generation ; and where Scripting and Interactivity via the celebrated Document Object Model are required, nothing can be better adapted. PERSONS EMPLOYING BITMAPPED GRAPHICS, which are subject to Aliasing, Blurring, Large File Size, and Difficulty of Correction or Subsequent Modification, arising from a lack of structure, should all promptly investigate the considerable benefits of Vector Graphics today. *Available in most fine Linux Distributions, or obtained direct through our Web Site at 8 b. per byte: http://www.inkscape.org/* --- Any comments? -mental

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info on PSTricks extensions used is missing(LaTeX backend)
by Gour 13 Oct '05

13 Oct '05

Hi! I'm new to Inkscape but would like to use it as a tool for illustrating my LaTeX (LyX) presentations prepared with a beamer package. I tried to 'draw' simple polygon in Inkscape (0.42) and save drawing as LaTeX with PSTricks macros. One confusion is that Inkscape produces .tex file and puts the following comment: %%Please note this file requires PSTricks extensions in the file, but i have problem discerning which extension(s) is/are required. I looked for a help on #inkscape and hinted to report the issue on the list and/or submit a bug report with the request that the info is placed in the file to help users. Am I missing something or the feature is really missing? Sincerely, Gour -- Registered Linux User | #278493 GPG Public Key | 8C44EDCD

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Static RPM isn't Very Static
by DJA 13 Oct '05

13 Oct '05

I downloaded and installed the 0.42.2 RPM (I tried both i386 and i686) and even though it installed okay with no dependency errors, the program won't run because of the following error: [dallen@...1044... ~]$ inkscape inkscape: error while loading shared libraries: libgc.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory I expect that a static build of an app to include everything needed to run that app, including necessary libraries, or is my understanding of "static" incorrect. I have had the same problem on both Fedora Core 3 (FC3) and FC4, both of which are updated as of the date of this post. I cannot find the library which contains the libgc.so.1 library file. Apparently it's not part of the Fedora distro. Where can I find this library? -- Best Regards, ~DJA.

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CXXIFICATION_VIEW_AND_WIDGET (was Re: Inkscape as console application)
by Ben Fowler 13 Oct '05

13 Oct '05

On 10/12/05, Ralf Stephan <ralf@...748...> wrote: > > > Ben, why don't you have a look at inkscape's branch named > > > CXXIFICATION_VIEW_AND_WIDGET and discuss that? > > I will take a look. That is very much what I am interested in. Would it > > work as Gtk+ and QT? > > Yes, concerning SPDesktop only. Unfortunately, inkscape GUI code > is distributed widely within the source ... >... > So you will only > see the odd file cleanly separated[sic] into M/V. See previous. That is very much my point. If I checked out (your?) branch is there anything that I could contribute? Ben

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png transparency displayed incorrectly
by David Christian Berg 12 Oct '05

12 Oct '05

Since the image was to big, the email didn't get through... hence I now uploaded it to http://home.tu-clausthal.de/~dcb/linux/crayon.png (it's white with different opacity) Hey guys: I wanted to import the attached png to get the effect of crayons within inkscape... for some reason the transparency is displayed as being grey, at least partially.. any clues, why that might be? Same problem still exists on exporting to bmp... Thanx in advance! David

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