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Inkscape is one of the most impressive examples of free/libre open-source software (FLOSS). It's developed by a friendly, transparent, well-run community of dev

by cs702 7y ago

Inkscape is one of the most impressive examples of free/libre open-source software (FLOSS). It's developed by a friendly, transparent, well-run community of developers, writers and translators, testers, and designers. As someone who has used Inkscape for well over a decade on desktop Linux, I continue to be impressed at how nice it is, how well it works, and how much it does. It's really a shining example of not-for-profit software development. FYI, a short essay on the history of the project was just posted on its website: https://inkscape.org/news/2020/05/04/roots-and-shoots-inkscape-project/ https://inkscape.org/news/2020/05/04/roots-and-shoots-inksca...

agumonkey 7y ago
I may be misguided but it was also low on the radar of big graphical applications in the linux world. For years all I saw was gimp gimp gimp then one day a few people started to mention inkscape. Since then it has been a constant improvement.
- erikbye 7y ago
  They're not competing.
- pedrogpimenta 7y ago
  They are very different in nature, and by their nature, Gimp is much more used/needed, hence its popularity. Think Photoshop and Illustrator. Photoshop is much much more popular in brand than Illustrator. And actually, Gimp is to Photoshop as Inkscape is to Illustrator, so the analogy is perfect.
  - agumonkey 7y ago
    gimp is a lot less polished than inkscape, that's what surprised me about inkscape low profile
    - prox 7y ago
      Gimps community was never very inviting nor open when I used it.
      - agumonkey 7y ago
        You know, even then, gimp could have been a technical masterpiece but to me inkscape felt a lot more interesting at many levels. That said community problems can impede quality obviously.
        prox 7y ago
        Absolutely, Inkscape has been great and is a great example of open source done right.
    - m-p-3 7y ago
      Not a lot of people out there need to work with vector-based files compared to how many people need to retouch raster-based files.
- mikorym 7y ago
  There is also Potrace [1], which is embedded in Inkscape. But if you want to call it via a cli you have to use Inkscape commands, which seems difficult for me. They are probably worth knowing, but I couldn't quickly find a full reference manual. Instead, you can call Potrace directly from the command line. So the components within Inkscape are also worth understanding individually. I've used Potrace to vectorise raster images of text that was pixelated. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potrace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potrace
JorgeGT 7y ago
Inkscape is one of my go-to examples when people say FLOSS cannot compete against commercial software. I use it daily for my research publications and it works great. The other astounding example of FLOSS is IMHO QGIS (Quantum GIS). It's one of these softwares that every time you use it you can't stop being surprised it's free.
- dmtrs 7y ago
  and blender
  - galfarragem 7y ago
    I expect it to be the leader 3D software in a few years. Blender is in the right path. Next version will add some of the tools that made Sketchup popular. Their bet in Python was also fortunate and they are starting to cash in.
    - whateveracct 7y ago
      I recently started learning Blender for 2D animation with the new and improved Grease Pencil. It's very cool technology! I can't wait to get the hang of it. Blender is an amazing program.
      - microcolonel 7y ago
        I think the real killer is going to be the constant improvements to the video editing and mixed 2D animation facilities. I recently used Blender for some casual video editing, and there were a couple things about the experience that really stunk (like not having proper control over framerates, while editing a 15fps video, needing to render to 30fps), but there is also a lot of promise with its tight integration with the Blender renderers and animation system. I think it's time for a mixed-content VFX BOMP with all the sequences composited and edited in Blender, end to end.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
cbsmith 7y ago
Not mentioned in that blog post is Ted Gould, who started the project. If you've ever met him, it's not hard to see how he'd set a tone that would ensure the community would grow in to what it is.
m-p-3 7y ago
One of my favorite app, it's a must-have on all my systems.

by cs702 7y ago

agumonkey 7y ago

I may be misguided but it was also low on the radar of big graphical applications in the linux world. For years all I saw was gimp gimp gimp then one day a few people started to mention inkscape. Since then it has been a constant improvement.

erikbye 7y ago
They're not competing.
pedrogpimenta 7y ago
They are very different in nature, and by their nature, Gimp is much more used/needed, hence its popularity. Think Photoshop and Illustrator. Photoshop is much much more popular in brand than Illustrator. And actually, Gimp is to Photoshop as Inkscape is to Illustrator, so the analogy is perfect.
- agumonkey 7y ago
  gimp is a lot less polished than inkscape, that's what surprised me about inkscape low profile
  - prox 7y ago
    Gimps community was never very inviting nor open when I used it.
    - agumonkey 7y ago
      You know, even then, gimp could have been a technical masterpiece but to me inkscape felt a lot more interesting at many levels. That said community problems can impede quality obviously.
      - prox 7y ago
        Absolutely, Inkscape has been great and is a great example of open source done right.
  - m-p-3 7y ago
    Not a lot of people out there need to work with vector-based files compared to how many people need to retouch raster-based files.
mikorym 7y ago
There is also Potrace [1], which is embedded in Inkscape. But if you want to call it via a cli you have to use Inkscape commands, which seems difficult for me. They are probably worth knowing, but I couldn't quickly find a full reference manual. Instead, you can call Potrace directly from the command line. So the components within Inkscape are also worth understanding individually. I've used Potrace to vectorise raster images of text that was pixelated. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potrace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potrace

JorgeGT 7y ago

Inkscape is one of my go-to examples when people say FLOSS cannot compete against commercial software. I use it daily for my research publications and it works great. The other astounding example of FLOSS is IMHO QGIS (Quantum GIS). It's one of these softwares that every time you use it you can't stop being surprised it's free.

dmtrs 7y ago
and blender
- galfarragem 7y ago
  I expect it to be the leader 3D software in a few years. Blender is in the right path. Next version will add some of the tools that made Sketchup popular. Their bet in Python was also fortunate and they are starting to cash in.
  - whateveracct 7y ago
    I recently started learning Blender for 2D animation with the new and improved Grease Pencil. It's very cool technology! I can't wait to get the hang of it. Blender is an amazing program.
    - microcolonel 7y ago
      I think the real killer is going to be the constant improvements to the video editing and mixed 2D animation facilities. I recently used Blender for some casual video editing, and there were a couple things about the experience that really stunk (like not having proper control over framerates, while editing a 15fps video, needing to render to 30fps), but there is also a lot of promise with its tight integration with the Blender renderers and animation system. I think it's time for a mixed-content VFX BOMP with all the sequences composited and edited in Blender, end to end.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

cbsmith 7y ago

Not mentioned in that blog post is Ted Gould, who started the project. If you've ever met him, it's not hard to see how he'd set a tone that would ensure the community would grow in to what it is.

m-p-3 7y ago

One of my favorite app, it's a must-have on all my systems.