I agree that the tool overload problem needs to be resolved sooner or later, but do we really need it to be that complex? Why not just allow the user to add and remove tools from a "tool pool" onto a single toolbar?
Because usually, people use specific sets of tools for specific tasks, common groups of which can be determined: - drawing (in which case people like me would rather have tweak tools separate) - charts (as I've said, I'd really like to see dedicated chart tools. They Could be implemented as sub-modes of the current shapes as long as people don't mind the clutter) - 3D (when you have multiple 3D tools, you'd want these, deform to 3D, 3D grids and a few normal drawing tools) - technical (you'd need all those new technical tools) - font design? (Spiro! Just keep the current implementation, but eliminate the red line of the original) - color adjustment? (calls up brightness/contrast, hue/saturation etc for those last minute adjustments) - some raster tools? (I'd rather do my mock-ups in Inkscape than in Gimp because of the easy boxes and easy moving things around. However, I Really need that crop tool...)
Having pre-defined categories would be convenient for users, especially when they can further tweak on their own and create their own sub-sets. Assuming that users don't want to be limited to one set of tasks, allowing them to quickly-access sub-sets would be handy.
I actually base this approach on my gripes with Gimp: Gimp allows you to tune your interface (more or less) to One task and that's it, when there are several types of tasks I'd like to do with it. Having to re-tune the interface each time though is so annoying that I've stopped bothering completely, even though it results in a rather unpleasant workflow.
Many LPEs make little sense unless you can adjust their parameters, and while for some of them the params would fit into the controls bar, but e.g. for Sketch there's no chance to fit everything there.
More importantly, a tool is warranted when (at least) there's something different that it does when you drag on canvas. What would an LPE tool do on a drag? Draw a path? But we have Pen and Pencil for that. Why not, instead, add a simple LPE choosing widget to the control bars (now empty) of these tools?
This widget is exactly what I would love to see, but not in its own tool - why? Its most natural place is on the control bars of Pen and Pencil, forcing these tools to produce paths with pattern-on-path with predefine profile paths. A profile width control would also be appropriate there.
So basically, you're proposing complex strokes as a sub-mode of pencil and pen? That's workable. How do you propose to settle the UI issue of fill vs stroke color? With LPE, the stroke Is the shape, after all (though I suppose said shape/stroke doesn't need its own stroke).
I'll try to design a mock-up for this then.
By the way, have any of you ever used the Freehand draw tool of Karbon14 of KOffice? It's even smoother than Inkscape's. I know someone from Inkscape is working on a new implementation of freehand so that the final curve is calculated only once all the points are placed, resulting in smoother output, but would it also have sub-modes (raw, curve, line) + additional smoothing like Karbon14?
Screenshot:
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/9927/karbon14px5.png
Smoother output + auto LPE on it = win!