Inkscape Hackfest 2015

Thanks to the generosity of those who have contributed to the Inkscape Fund,
for three days in the last week in April, seven Inkscape developers and
programmers pioneered the very first Inkscape Hackfest.  This was an
opportunity for them to meet each other in person, in some cases for the
first time, for 3 days of intense code-writing (hacking) and decision-making
about the future of Inkscape.

Hacking tasks included work on older, or existing code (such as fixing some
bugs) as well as the creation of new code.  Parts of the code that have to
do with geometric calculations were updated to current standards, and some
of that work will help make the path operations more precise.  Some new code
was written that will improve how Inkscape is packaged. ("Packaging" is
getting the Inkscape source code ready to work on the three different
operating systems which Inkscape supports - Linux, Windows and OS X.)  It
will allow developers to build and test new versions faster.

Discussion topics included [bullet list]
-- built-in code testing (helps prevent changes that a programmer makes to
one part of the code from inadvertently breaking other parts of the code,
also makes coding more efficient)
-- improved rendering performance (reducing delays on the canvas, when
working with large files)
-- user interface design (e.g. possibly putting extensions, filters and and
path effects in one menu)
-- roadmap
-- fund-raising
-- accessibility issues

As a result of these discussions, the Roadmap was agreed upon, and extended
through version 1.0 and even a little beyond.  Decisions were made about the
best development tools, programming language features, and software
libraries (certain sets of code which perform particular tasks) to use,
which together will result in more reliable software and faster bug fixes,
as well as improved support for the OS X operating system.

Considering the bounty of new code and de-bugged or fixed code that was
hacked, along with a slew of vital decisions that were made, and together
with the work that has been completed since it ended, it seems the first
Inkscape Hackfest was a resounding success!  Timed to coincide with the
start of the annual Libre Graphics Meeting, attendees were able to also meet
and confer with programmers and developers of other free and open source
projects, (such as The GIMP, Blender, Scribus, and Pango) for the next three
days following Inkscape Hackfest.

That collaboration resulted in yet more new decisions, and code as well.  A
commitment was made to improve Inkscape's accessibility.  New code was
written, which is already included in the next new version, and which makes
it possible for screen readers to read text, even if the text was converted
to paths.  And work has been started on supporting multi-language files for
internet use.

Thanks to all those who attended Hackfest 2015, for their hard work, and for
their commitment to making Inkscape, making it freely available, and making
it great!  And thanks again to those who contributed funds, enabling such
talented programmers to meet, work together, and advance Inkscape's
evolution by a giant step.