Krzysztof Kosiński wrote:
This is wrong. We can have any of those segments in any path: SVG allows to mix them freely.
I'm aware of that, but just because the SVG format allows something it's not necessarily easier for users. SVG also allows horizontal and vertical segments too, but what Inkscape currently implements is a good approximation[1] to the superset of all shapes without introducing different user interfaces for each of the 6 segment types.
Not to mention it would be very confusing, because we would now have several modes of the node tool, and modes are bad.
"Modal interfaces are bad" is only a loose usability guideline. What is good usability can only be measured by how people interact with an interface. Modal interfaces only present a problem when it's not obvious which mode you're in. We have modes for other tools, and tools themselves are modes of the user interface.
In any case, what I was suggesting was no change to the node tool except that it allows you to scale the axes of elliptic segments, and an additional pen tool for creating elliptic/straight paths alongside the existing tool for creating cubic/straight paths. Quadratic segments aren't compelling for me.
Dan
[1] I recall cubics can approximate elliptical segments to an accuracy of greater than 99%.