...that slow graphic library might work...

I was thinking... you know... that slow graphic library
might not be so bad... xaralx is well written... and, on
faster modern computers, I wouldnt forsee any major lag.
Has anybody actually tried to compile XaraLX by replacing
the fast rendering engine with the slower one ?

On the other hand, Id be just as happy to continue using
XaraLX as a "non-free" application... this always gets me
rolling on the floor... there is nothing whatsoever "non free"
about this version, other than that xara developers refuse
to hand their code over to linux... "non-free" is a scare
tactic... the program itself is freely available for use in
Linux distributions.

Im just getting edgy (no... not debian "edgy" :-), waiting for
xara features to gravitate to the linux branch.

To be honest what is really needed is more use of XaraLX by ordinary users. Sort out the svg issue promote the use of XaraLX to the ordinary Linux user and the development will take care of it's self. The greater the use of XaraLX by ordinary Linux users the more pressure from the community to get the developers involved with the development of XaraLX.

What's needed is greater use not development. So this begs the question how do we promote the use XaraLX to the community. Even Xara will pull the plug if no one uses it. As it stands XaraLX is the equal (if not better than) Inkscape, so there should not be any difficulty in promoting XaraLX.

Have you any ideas on how we promote XaraLX to the Linux community.


Thanks
Dai

Dai... you have no PM option:rolleyes: Please come over to "MyPCLinuxOS" and check in at "Beautification":)
There is a group who are moving on this. It will take time. But I'd be very thankful to have another tester with me:D

Thanks
You can use my second down link. Register in the gallery, then click on "back to mypclinuxos"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dai

Have you any ideas on how we promote XaraLX to the Linux community.

Dai

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Once upon a time, I was thinking of some community driven opensource graphics site. Basically how to do various things with opensource graphics apps. There seems to be alot of these kind of sites that feature Photoshop and Illustrator but not many that exclusivly feature apps like Gimp and Xaralx.

Get that up and running, and try get it on sites like digg and tweako.

I know PHP and XHTML and I might still be intrested but only have time on weekends, if anyone think its a good idea and would like to help make it happen, let me know.

I think your site idea is an excellent one. I would be quite happy to make some screencast tutorials for it. and there is no need to worry about hosting as these screencast would be hosted with showmedo or blip. http://dai-videotutes.blogspot.com/
screencasts are hosted on blip.tv and used in my blog. So no need to worry on bandwidth of screecasts. So long as you are not expecting miracles on the graphics front only now learning to do graphics on a computer.

Great stuff you got there Dai! My concerns are mainly how to set it all up. Doing basic stuff with php/mysql is simple but doing something more advanced stuff with user accounts and such does require alot of planning and time. I'm hoping someone with experience with these kind of things would be intressted to participate. I could probably do it myself through some trial and error but that's very time consuming... Guess I have to do some research.

And no I'm not expecting miracles. Just basics and other simple stuff...think pimp-my-photos/website/and-so-forth

I feel, if there was a spot placed on such a site, where people offer donations to be sent fourth to Xara / Magic of which monies would go toward further developing one item at a time (such as the svg.) And then comes the more difficult task of locating a linux dev who might have the desire. (preferably a fellow artist with dev abilities)
But the first person to speak with about this, to see what they think, is Charles Moire
If anything further is ever to begin again on this project, I think it would need to show there will be a future profit from the work. i.e., myself and a few others agree that this is a program which would be well worth the $$ to purchase in Linux format
I think a poll targeted toward xara lx users (would you pay the $80.00 for the linux version of extreme) would be a good idea to show the folks where it matters, that it might be a good idea to start it up once again. But that is not a definite.... there is also the chance that it is just dead and will have to rely on independant devs for good.
I sure would love to be in touch with those whom have been working on it right along. In fact, I beleive I will try to contact them. There is a link (I beleive) on the site to contact

There are a few systems out there that could be used. Joomla or PHPNuke, Drupal etc. If we are going to look at this seriously then maybe we need to use one of these ready made systems. PCLinux magazine runs Joomla

http://drupal.org/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dai

<snip>Sort out the svg issue <snip>
I came today specifically to post what I'd seen in a newish application
which includes xaralx - that being "*******", a derivative of ***** linux...
and, in that distribution, SVG output works right out of the box... first time
I'd seen this in any linux distro, so it's worth knowing. EDIT: whoops !
big mistake here... the distro originally mentioned here does not in fact
have SVG support at all... I mistook this for EPS export, which is standard
in the download version of xaralx... again, my apologies for this !

<snip> promote the use of XaraLX to the ordinary Linux user and the development will take care of it's self. The greater the use of XaraLX by ordinary Linux users the more pressure from the community to get the developers involved with the development of XaraLX.<snip>
couldnt agree more with this point... however... seeing XaraLX in
"*******" is one such example of [promoting] the application more...
actually, debian seems to have caught the xaralx bug, and is now
including it, along with a xara-specific SVG import/export library...
so... debian being as popular as it is, this should certainly help.
EDIT: the debian comment still holds true... unfortunately, my mention
of the other distro is entirely wrong... not supporting any svg whatsoever... my apologies.

<snip> What's needed is greater use not development. So this begs the question how do we promote the use XaraLX to the community. Even Xara will pull the plug if no one uses it. <snip>
I still agree with you on this : - ) Really the most important concern
relating to its use is in fact it's [perceived useability]... and here I think
is the factor most discouraging new users... XaraLX, at least in any
form I've seen it, is very ragged and even broken in many places... it
takes an experienced user to sift through the pieces to find what is
actually a very workable program, though, packaged with all this unfinished code...
nothing less appealing than working an hour on a picture to find... oops...
the PDF output - after we find it - is raster, instead of scalable... or
similar. The typical response to this has been... xaralx is in working
condition, but is provided as is... fine with me, but the question here
is how to convince new users to pick it up and try it.
I dont know what version the "*******" group is using, or what
libraries they have included, but that version is as close to the full-blown
windows edition as any I have seen... soooooo... my suggestion here is,
maybe we should be endorsing some linux distribution, such as "*******"
which has this excellent version of xaralx going for it, instead of directing
users to download what are essentially develop versions ?
EDIT: yes... this remains a good plan... but it seems it will be debian
which first offers full SVG support, not the distro I mentioned in error...
apologies again.

<snip> As it stands XaraLX is the equal (if not better than) Inkscape, so there should not be any difficulty in promoting XaraLX.<snip>
Well... this kind of approach begs a "yes... it's much better", or,
"no... I dont think its so much better", or other kind of opinion.
In fact, XaraLX and Inkscape are still two very different programs,
both of which produce vector drawings. I use Inkscape to edit
xara drawings, and vice-versa... I happen to prefer XaraLX as a
drawing tool however.

<snip>Have you any ideas on how we promote XaraLX to the Linux community.<snip>
why yes... yes I do... please see above : - )
EDIT: oh... and also... please disregard my references to "teen---" as an answer...
it is a nice distro, but, unfortunately, -not- the solution I mistook it for.

Thanks
Dai

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you are quite welcome / to which Ill add my final apology for the errant lead.

drupal looks good :D I'll see if I have time this week to play with it on my machine. Thanks for the link Dai!

It would be nice to have the teenpup version as a download in an autopackage for the rest of us who are happy with the disto's we already have. I have three on my system as well as puppy linux on a disk if need be. Do you know if the teenpup linux version will have working svg with other versions of linux.

It would need to be submitted to the proper people to be made into an official autopackage... other than that, it could be re-packaged as an rpm:)