Slashdot Mirror
Update on Xara's OS Vector Graphics Project
An anonymous reader writes "We first heard from Xara when they announced their plan to release
their crown jewels, the Xara
X source code under GPL.
Now, 5 scant months since going Open Source, Xara has released Xara
Xtreme Linux 0.7, a very functional, robust illustration
program. What
this means for the Linux Desktop is significant: a true professional
grade graphics package. And for a glimpse at what Xara can do,
you owe it to yourself to see the new Xara Xtreme Linux
Screenshot gallery
with amazing, unbelievable vector graphic art."
... and the server seems to be showing a very impressive vector graphic of a blank page. What great rendering!
I haven't used Xara extreme yet, but I have seen artists say that it's better than Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand (which is what this software competes with) in terms of performance, (some?) features, and ease of use. Sounds like a great new software in Linux' arsenal.
here's working coral cache
t s.html
http://www.xaraxtreme.org.nyud.net:8090/screensho
Just tried the Windoze version for a quickie look at features. No SVG support. As more of the OSS community and others start to create and deliver vector graphics in SVG (check out all the SVGs in Wikimedia Commons or OpenClipart.org), any illustration program without it will gradually lose its user base. It's not that SVG is so wonderful, but it's becoming a necessary tool to have in your arsenal.
Start a happiness pandemic
IIRC the core of Xara Xtreme were put on some binary only libs. Did these libraries were released in a opensource license in new version ?
KWouldK KyouK KratherK KitK KhaveK KaK KonK KeveryK KwordK K?K mmmK?
... is right here and still appears to be building. But at least it's not on fire.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
But Xara is more than 10 years old, it was the name given in 1995 to the PC orientated side of Computer Concepts, an Acorn orientated company started in 1981. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xara
"An anonymous reader" writes: ...crown jewels...5 scant months...a very functional, robust illustration program...a true professional grade graphics package...you owe it to yourself to see the new Xara Xtreme Linux Screenshot gallery...with amazing, unbelievable vector graphic art
Could "An anonymous reader" possibly be Xara?
Check out the source code, this thing is a monolith. I think I'm sticking to Inkscape for now, though I wish the Xara team the best of luck, and it was a nice gesture to release the source code under the GPL.
Good to see ./ has still is "magic touch". It's been a while since we slashdotted.
GNo.
I have nothing to say.
Wikipedia has more on Xara (of course).
I'm a huge fan of vector drawing, even to the point of using Inkscape to animate stuff. I can't wait to try this out, especially if it has better support for frame generation.
Think of the Children; Sleep with your Sister
I'm probably going to make the server burn a little more by piquing Mac user interest in addition to Linux, but, as gleaned from the google cache of the text (the images are still roiling in flames on a server somewhere), they are using wxWidgets, and they say they're looking for developers and testers for Mac OS too. I guess a port there is not far off. Presumably other platforms are possible too.
You iDiot, we've patented preceding words with a letter. Sincerely, Apple
GDI+ and Quartz are rendering APIs, not vector art programs. *nix has had Cairo for a couple of years and X has been around longer than Quartz or GDI/+.
Good. Cheap. Fast. Pick Two.
I am doubtless one of the reasons that Xara LX exists at all -- I wrote their product manager a couple years ago to state I intended to switch to Linux, and would really love it if their product could at least run under WINE; at the time they said they had no intentions on working on a Linux version in the future and that "Linux users seem to expect everything for free". That they are upping the ante and actually making a Linux version that is indeed free is puzzling, but I'm not complaining: I've bought every revision of the software since 1.0 back in the 90s and still prefer it to Inkscape, Illustrator, and all the other competitors on the block.
My only beefs, if I could be said to have any:
All told, though, I am grateful to Xara for their decision -- and to all the developers who have contributed to the success of the project. If I could code my way out of a proverbial wet paper bag I would have helped by now, but unfortunately I am one of those individuals who is happy to use Xara's products without having the faintest idea of how to make them (or make them better, in this case).
For Fedora folks, XaraLX and XaraLX-examples are in the Extras repository, which is enabled by default. Just:
yum -y install XaraLX and XaraLX-examples
Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.
As no one with Debian uses it, or looks in it, but XaraLX is in "non-free" for Etch and Sid. Looks like the maintainer upgraded it to 0.7 in Sid, Etch is 0.6 currently.
GDI+ and Quartz are vector APIs. X has nothing to do with that, and Cairo still isn't production quality.
"Sufferin' succotash."
Cairo has been rendering GNOME for over a year. The software renderer is a bit slow on linux, but it works fine. I was hoping there might br some way to ue the Xara renderer to speed it up, but it doesn't look like that's possible yet.
:)
X does have a vector API, just not a very good one
I do hope you enjoy playing with Xara; I know how "high" I felt when it dawned on me what great software it was to use in 1997 when I was first introduced to it. I think this company has written some great software; their products command a near-cult status following already (many of their followers dating all the way back to 'Acorn Draw'). Developing a port of their flagship product for Linux is quite definitely not going to hurt their reputation in the latter respect, at least. ;)
the fact that they are resorting to an open source model is pretty good indicator that they failed commercially.
Chalk that up to the swift move of licensing it to Corel to "market" a Windows version from 1995 to 2000 (as CorelXara). Having Corel come anywhere near your product is the Kiss of Death. Compound that error by trying to sell a high-end product to graphic artists on Windows without first building a loyal following with a Mac version.
* * * * * * *
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
--Groucho Marx
As others already have mentioned Xara has a superb GUI and is easy usable. This is due the fact that Xara tries to be wyoGuide conformant (see http://wyoguide.sf.net/projectlist.php).
O. Wyss
See http://wyoguide.sf.net/papers/Cross-platform.html
Xara Software used to be the UK's Computer Concepts who produced Impression DTP software and Artworks vector graphics package in the early nineties for the Acorn 32-bit computer range (The Acorn who created the ARM chip and spun off the IP to create the ARM company). Artworks as ported to Win32 and performed 5x faster using its own redraw routines than Corel Draw using Windows' GDI. That port of Artworks was licensed and sold by Corel as Corel Xara. I'm not surprised that they have good rendering code given their 15 years of experience with it.
"Xara vs Inkscape" is a silly notion. I have been a member of the Inkscape project for years now; since before it began. We have recently started collaborating with the Xara guys. Inkscape and Xara have a wonderful relationship. There is no "vs." We are basically attacking the problem from different angles, that's all.