On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 1:01 AM, Jon Cruz <jon@...18...> wrote:
On Feb 1, 2011, at 1:29 PM, <J.B.C.Engelen@...1578...> wrote:
The Cairo version should be mostly usable right now, but requires using a development release of Cairo that fixes some precision problems with gradients.
How long will it take for this to be fixed?
Although I do not want to give you extra headaches, I really want to get our copy of 2geom updated asap. It's been way too long since we did the last update.
Well, it turns out I was talking with the Cairo guys this past week at linux.conf.au on this very subject.
The first warning was that until an even release is made with the feature we want, it is *technically* ok for them to change or remove any APIs up until the last minute. So we shouldn't really start using that in our main code until they have an initial even number release with the feature/API we want.
Agreed about the even numbered release.
Secondly, and also more important according to them, is that we want to wait until distros have time to assess that release, bring it in, and then make a release themselves. For some distros we can go with a simultaneous targeting, but for others we will most likely want to keep a fair window of compatibility.
This I am less worried about. I think that if they are scrutinizing a new cairo release, they're scrutinizing everything else (including a new Inkscape release).
The main need for compatibility is those with a business-oriented or LTS approach. By keeping more compatible with such stable releases, we can target professional use of Inkscape and move away from the "just a toy" trap. We get *many* requests from those who want to either install an additional newer Inkscape version or to grab a newer PPA or such of an updated Inkscape. (and keep in mind that we had made changes to allow for easy parallel installation of multiple Inkscape versions).
Agreed about targeting professionals... however wrt a PPA, if we know of a newer cairo to not have any (known) regressions, we can offer those too via "the" PPA or Suse's build service. I think we can offer the necessary dependencies just as many PPAs do. (of course, this involves us actually setting up an official PPA)
Cheers, Josh
P.S. For professional use, I still find a 10 year old copy of Illustrator to be more friendly... Resources never get out of hand by comparison to a few minutes of use of Inkscape (and yes, that's with me cranking up the undo history preferences in AI).