Request for Packages in Fedora Core 3

[Peter Linnell]

> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 19:55:18 +1000
> From: David Le Sage <dlesage at iprimus.com.au>
> Subject: Request for Packages in Fedora Core 3
> To: fedora-devel-list at redhat.com
> Message-ID: <40B07506.8060407 at iprimus.com.au>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
> 
> Hello All,
> 
> I am really enjoying my use fo Fedora Core 2.  To make the next release 
> even better, I humbly request the following packages be considered for 
> inclusion:
> 
> Scribus - The first modern DTP package for Linux.  This is an 
> essential 	for myself and many others moving from commercial 
> operating 		systems.  More than any other package, I would love to see 
> this included.  It will help you win converts...
> 
> KIllustrator or Sketch - Vector graphics would be very good.  I 
> understand one of these products has as much functionality as GIMP but I 
> am not sure which.  Open Office's drawings do not suffice.
> 
> Ardour or Audacity for audio manipulation.
> 
> Please keep up the excellent work.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> David

Thanks for the kind words about Scribus. We are working diligently
towards a stable 1.2 release in the next few months. This is a question
I have long pondered having used RH since 7.0. "When would Scribus be
worthy of inclusion?"

Disclaimer: I have been part of Scribus since 0.37

Comments/Observations:

1) AFAIK - the best place to request this is:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=107630 which is a
existing request to add Scribus in Fedora/RH.

2) Three of five Scribus devels run RH9 and/or Fedora. 

3) Scribus has been in Fedora.us and works very well with the stock
distro. We have had no issues with RH/Fedora users - provided they have
not messed with mixing third party stuff or home brewed installs. 

4) For Vector Graphics - I would vote for Inkscape or Skencil. Inkscape
is rapidly developing and has excellent SVG output. By the time FC-3 is
out it should be more feature complete and better import/export
capabilities. Inkscape has a very good team and is _very_ user friendly
for an advanced vector application. The only issue adding it to Core
would be the need for gtkmm. Skencil is mature and the next version is
based on GTK, not Tk. I do think a real drawing tool is needed for the
desktop. 

5) Suse has made a big fuss about Scribus:
http://www.suse.com/us/private/products/suse_linux/i386/graphics.html

6. Scribus needs no other packages from Fedora Core except littlecms.
That can be made optional, though not recommended.

7. It has consistently been voted one of the most popular programs on
kde-apps.org 

I think the best argument is Scribus fills a couple of huge niches on a
Linux Desktop: Desktop Publishing for both beginners _and_ experts. It
also can create PDF forms like Acrobat. 

By any objective standard, Scribus produces superb PDF, as tested by
several professional pre-press tools. It also can create PDF forms like
the full Acrobat and has other PDF features which no other application
is even remotely capable of on Linux. 

By the time, FC-3 is out, there should be a stable Scribus 1.2 released,
feature complete with new documentation, many sample files and
templates. 

As a long time Redhat user, yeah, I can honestly say, without
hesitation, its ready.

I would be most curious to have feedback from Redhat devels.

Cheers,
Peter