A great alternative to Xara Xtreme on Linux

It's very sad to see development for Xara Xtreme on Linux stagnate as it has... I really was hoping that Xtreme would have a promising future on Linux, but it's has become clear that Xara is not willing to put much effort into the open source version other than attempting to use it as a marketing tool, and there is little evidence that the company that just acquired Xara is committed to the open source version either. This is a shame because I really like Xara Xtreme and I would have gladly paid for full featured version on Linux that would export to SVG.

Thankfully, though, the newest version if Inkscape 0.45 was just released and the developers have added some awesome, much needed features like Gaussian Blur that allow Inkscape to compete in capability with Xtreme, all while being is truly open source and giving the SVG support most of us wanted from Xtreme. After testing the latest Inkscape out and recreating some of the stuff I have done in Xtreme, I'm very impressed and satisfied that there is now something better for Linux users to move on to.

Yep,

I will not cry - this move can be a great one for Xara - WE NEED ALSO GOOD COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS ON LINUX - think about professionals which need support for software and advanced features. Now Xara will have enough time and money to develop better software - which we need on Linux - I wanna pay for quality ( but also I will donate to Inkscape - is a great product that will grow fast ).

From other point of view - on this virgin market - Xara ( in collaboration with Inkscape, Gimp, Scribus - in terms of standards and interoperability ) can create THE RULE and THE LINE for the Linux DTP production.

I wanna pay for Xara PRO, Inkscape PRO, Gimp PRO - because I need this on DTP and for my webdesign work (and I need full featured programs) AND also I wanna teach other peoples - on my free time - using free versions of Inkscape and Gimp.

In conclusion I vote for PRO software for my paid work, and free, open software for opensource projects or just for teaching other peoples.

Both variants are OK. But other peoples want to work for money with free software. Is ok, is possible but is not too fair.


SorinN

Take it easy... xara was just bought by some other company, so just give them some time to do whatever...BTW the last commit was 31 january...just calm down

Also open source software is commercial just look at Suse and Redhat...

I wonder what makes you think that if xara for linux isn't developed very actively makes it a worse editor than one that releases a new version every half year, for example.
If it works for people, most of who don't give a damn about svg export except for those who make icons, then the pace of development doesn't really matter much.

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Originally Posted by Slapo

If it works for people, ... then the pace of development doesn't really matter much.

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Unless, of course, Xara still wants contributions from the community.

As it stands now if I am a developer who wants to spend some of my free time working on a vector drawing program I have a couple of projects to choose from. On one hand there is a partially open project that may or may not be dead and on the other is a fully open source project that is rapidly advancing and actively encourages new participants. The choice is pretty much a no brainer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jbus

Thankfully, though, the newest version if Inkscape 0.45 was just released and the developers have added some awesome, much needed features like Gaussian Blur that allow Inkscape to compete in capability with Xtreme, all while being is truly open source and giving the SVG support most of us wanted from Xtreme. After testing the latest Inkscape out and recreating some of the stuff I have done in Xtreme, I'm very impressed and satisfied that there is now something better for Linux users to move on to.

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I´ve been following Inkscape development too and already tested thier latest version. The new blur effect really bring Inkscape to the next level, however in daily use i think it´s still too slow. The potential is there but it´s not optimized enought for a smooth workflow, specially with complex drawings.
The redrawing speed of Inkscape is simply painfull.
Xara Xtreme speed and responsiveness doesn´t help when testing/comparing to other soft either (comercial or not), so i´m a little biased here.
Anyway Inkscape is clearly becoming an interesting and powerfull program for illustration and certainly the best option for linux (besides Xtreme).

Its probably worth noting that ever since Inkscape 0.44 folks with a history of using Xara don't need to learn a new set of keyboard shortcuts.

http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index....rable_keyboard