Xara LX a dead project ?

**enzopitek** · 18 December 2006, 04:34 PM

the project hasn't change for one month ?

did Xara change its policy with Linux and Mac OS X ?

Did Xara want to help the creation of a development community ?

**Soquili** · 18 December 2006, 04:41 PM

Hello enzopitek,

Welcome to Talkgraphics.

the project hasn't change for one month ?

True, the Xara Group Ltd developers have been busy working on the Windows version of the commercial product. They need to earn money to pay their bills. There doesn't appear to be enough open source developers to support the project without the Xara team. Once the commercial version is ready for CD production, I believe that development of the Linux version will proceed.

did Xara change its policy with Linux and Mac OS X ?

Not that I'm aware of and not that any announcement has been made. See my answer to your first question.

Did Xara want to help the creation of a development community ?

Actually it appears that Xara has been doing most if not all of the development of the open source project.

If you are a developer or know any that are willing to assist, please point them to http://www.xaraxtreme.org where they can signup.

**SorinN** · 22 December 2006, 12:58 PM

Soquili,

this is a serious problem, developers from Open Source movement wait for cdraw to be released, Xara wait for OS developers ( else will be an expensive development - for nothing (!!! it's true )).

The truth is Xara will loose time without help, without a open developers community. The only solution here - as far I can see - is a good support ( few developers ) from some main Linux Distributions like Ubuntu or Novell. This way Xara LX can become ..hmm, an official (this time) Linux tool. Supported by distributors / maintainers AND working close with Inkscape developers - will be easy to add new features and to grow - AS THE PEOPLES WANT - NOT COMPANIES.

I will add this point to my Ubuntu community...

**Soquili** · 22 December 2006, 01:04 PM

Hi SorinN,

Thanks for your support with the Ubuntu community.

**todder** · 29 December 2006, 01:27 AM

Here's my 2 cents as to why the OSX version isn't getting any open-source attention:

I find that people tend to overlap non-mac UNIX users and Mac users. Just because the systems have similar underpinnings and they're both alternatives to the ubiquitous Windows platforms, doesn't mean their user bases are the same. Yes open source projects are very successful in the UNIX community, but it's just not the case at all in the Mac community.

I'm going to stereotype here for a minute so forgive me:
Mac users have lots of money and not a lot of time. They're base is heavily weighted toward young North Americans. They like things easy, integrated and they "just-want-it-to-work". That's why they bought a Mac in the first place. Open source software has an icky, where's-the-polish reputation among the Mac community and, aside from the the 20% of Mac users who use Firefox, there hasn't been a lot of success with open source projects on the Mac.

I think Xara could have a lot of success in the Mac community if it changed directions and instead sold a $150 version of Xara for Mac. Even if the Linux version were still open source and free, Mac users would be happy to pay.

To illustrate, I will show you what the Mac users want:

Pay $150 and get a nice shiny installation of XaraX with easy access to pay-per-use clip art and stock photos. Comes with full tech support, no nag screens, and easy-peasy upgrading for just $149. Sounds perfect to the Mac community ... you know why? Because they will never have the software otherwise.

Xara should stop thinking Mac users are like Linux users and give the Mac community what they want! Trust me, they're willing to pay for it. Just stop asking them to pitch in with this open-source garbage and start paying some developers to move this thing along.

Does anyone agree or am I out in left field on this one?

**Soquili** · 29 December 2006, 02:10 AM

Hi Todder,

I do believe you have described the typical Mac user, as I know them.

They do not want the typical computer so they pay more for the Mac. "After all it cost more so it must be better" said with the typical nose up in the air attitude

.

Don't give them too many choices of programs to run on the Mac, it confuses them.

A web browser and a sound editing program are the primary programs the Mac users I know will ever use. They are musically inclined and want to use the Mac as a fully functional sound studio with multi-trac digital recording ability. They don't care that the sound editing software cost twice as much as the Mac

The corporate users where I work that have requested to have Mac computers want only two applications. 1. A web browser. 2. A page layout program (no real software to create graphics, just something to push them around on a page.)

All kidding aside Mac users are not typically interested in program development. I have met Unix developers, Linux developers, Windows developers, even Main Frame developers; but never a Mac developer. Are they all sequestered away somewhere? Or, are they a myth?

When the Mac used the Motorola 68000 processor (my favorite processor to develope assembly code) the OS was flakey at best for development. Since those days in the early 1980s they have made too many changes in hardware and OS for some developers to stay with them.

**Shaman** · 30 December 2006, 11:50 PM

Hey All:
Ran across this from a link, don't know this particular website, but I've got my fingers crossed, it's encouraging:
http://applications.linux.com/articl...32224&from=rss

Scott

**fjgaude** · 31 December 2006, 01:33 AM

Originally Posted by Shaman

Hey All:
Ran across this from a link, don't know this particular website, but I've got my fingers crossed, it's encouraging:
http://applications.linux.com/articl...32224&from=rss

Scott

Thanks, Scott, for the update. Seems from what Neil Howe is saying we can expect to see work starting again, in January, on the Linux version of Xara. We await such as many of us are committed to supporting and using Xara Xtreme for Linux for serious graphic design work. My main hangup now is copy/paste text into Xara, which it can't do like the Windows version can. <sigh>

frank

**pvmstg@videotro** · 31 December 2006, 03:03 PM

@toddy
Yes, That's the best mac user definition I saw.

Developper on mac platform are limited because they are, unlike unix-linux one, end user oriented.

They, like me, have no programming skill for the most part. I whant's finetune out of the box program. Just click on a dmg - drag drop to application folder is heaven.

For bitmaps program a lot of verry cool cacoa and free program exist so, xara with the ability to merge vector and bitmap is what's mac user are waiting for a price they can handlel. Not all mac user have a lot of money. They paid more for the mac because it's trouble free (almost).

So to xara developper. leave the linux community port the linux version if they whant.

But for mac user, remove the open project and fast trak xara, use XCODE and program a compatible file program (to be able to exhange to window user).

Please, do not try to use a linux or window interface like in many programs. Mac user like the mac look and feel giving by a good XCODE programming. You can use all the mac core librairy for the bitmaps transformation. Just look at http://www.livequartz.com/?menu=livequartz&lng=en to see what you can do at full speed just by using builtin mac librairy.

A good mac program (not a copy of linux interface), with all the feature of xara pro, will sell well if it could handle illustrator and corel draw files in input and output exange xara files with windows folks. CMYK color and a price tag around 150$.

**jedfrechette** · 01 January 2007, 05:52 PM

Well I must be one of those abnormal Mac users that proves the rule because Terminal lives on my Doc and 90% of the software I use is OSS software compiled from source, thank god for Fink.

Although it may appear to some that Xara is "wasting" their resources by developing an open source version of Xtreme on Linux I would propose that the way they are doing it is actually very smart. Much of the work on the OSS version up to this point has gone towards moving Xtreme to a cross-platform toolkit. This will allow it to be built on Windows, OS X, Linux and various other UNIX like operating systems while looking and behaving like a native application on all platforms. Of course, the big advantage of this is that Xara doesn't have to maintain and update n different banches of Xtreme, 1 for each operating system that they want to support.

I also wouldn't be to quick to discount the open source community on Mac. If I remember correctly much of the work on the Mac port has been done by a volunteer.