you would use a free, opensource version. You would use a paid, proprietary version, but you would NOT use a MOSTLY free hybrid?

hmm..

yeah, there does indeed have to be a NEED for a product in order for it to flourish... Linux, Windows, OS-X, free, commercial, whatever.

Now, I am not one to pimp the product over the user (as happens from time to time) but... let's face it, there is no drawing product like Xara on any platform at any price. I commend the folks doing the work on Inkscape, but, it may have occurred to some that the reason it is slow and cumbersome (ignoring its limited feature set) is that it lacks the low level core code that Xara wants to retain as proprietary.

If you want to shed the encumbrance of MicroCrud and still use the best software, you will pray that Xara gets over to Linux, full power soon. I do. Xara is the only app for which i still NEED windows. Waiting for XaraLX is the only think keeping me from switching.

Let em keep the core (I dunno how folks make a living giving their stuff away, anyhow). Just get it done, please.

geo.