I haven't fully understood what you mean when you say 'merge OCAL in Inkscape'. If you mean simply to provide a bundled clipart library with inkscape (like most drawing programs have) I agree completely to that.

If this is the case, we could also easily create a new tool which will show a preview of all the cliparts and will insert a selected one into the current drawing. Such tool would make Inkscape easier to use for diagram drawing, for example.

However, it is clear that when you say merging you also refer to OCAL infrastructure (like ccHost). Did you actually mean that the Inkscape team will take responsibility for OCAL and host it as well?

- Spyros Blanas

Bryce Harrington wrote:

Hi all,

This past year, the Open Clip Art Library has been both very successful, and very unsuccessful. From the standpoint of collecting clipart, it's been going like gang-busters, and currently has an incoming queue bursting with some very nice work.

Unfortunately, it's also suffered from not having a sufficient development community behind it. By and large the project is simple: Just build a collection of clipart. However, the sheer quantity we gain poses its own set of technical challenges. There's also little issues like keyword translations, searching, detection of invalid SVG, etc. etc. On top of that, we've also been maintaining our own infrastruction (wiki, website, mailing list, accounts, etc.)

The idea has been floated to merge OCAL back into Inkscape. OCAL was originally a spin-off from Inkscape, with the hope that we'd gain participation from other projects like OpenOffice, Sodipodi, KDE, etc. Unfortunately, that never really turned out, and it's mainly just been a few of us Inkscapers plus people not really associated with drawing program projects.

Two other reasons why I think this proposal makes sense at this time: First, with Inkscape joining the Software Freedom Conservancy, it makes sense to bring OCAL under that umbrella as well. Second, with us looking at new hosting providers for Inkscape, it would be worthwhile to include provisions for OCAL, as well.

OCAL will benefit from this merge in that it will consolidate the infrastructure administration into Inkscape, and will hopefully make it easier for Inkscape community members to work on clipart technology too. OCAL is in the process of bringing online a new tool called ccHost, which is a powerful tool for managing community-contributed media (it was originally designed for music, but it's in process of being adapted for handling clipart); Inkscape will benefit from having access to this tool as well - which could prove useful for managing community submitted screenshots, example files, tutorials, palettes, and other such things. Inkscape also gains by increasing the scope of its community, and of course gains the clipart library itself.

Please let me know what you think of this proposal, assuming you've read this far. ;-)

Bryce