[Novalug] Favorite Linux Applications

Theodore Ruegsegger truegsegger@csc.com
Wed Feb 7 09:03:35 EST 2007


Maxwell asks:

> What are the names of *your* favorite Linux applications and why?

I have lots, but my latest favorite is InkScape:
http://www.inkscape.org/

1. InkScape is an excellent GUI drawing tool with lots of nice
   features and extensive help and tutorials.

2. Its native format is scalable vector graphics (SVG):
   http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/

   This is the best possible format for me, since

   a. SVG is just markup language, giving instructions for drawing the
      pictures, rather than a pixel-by-pixel raster image.
   b. This means the image will scale to any size without loss of
      quality.
   c. I can generate it from PHP; it can't help but be easier and more
      readable than, say, the Ploticus syntax.
   d. For inferior browsers that can't render SVG, there's a plugin
      from Adobe at
      http://www.adobe.com/svg/viewer/install/main.html
      Adobe won't support it after this year, but it will still be
      available. In any case, I can convert to other formats.

3. It can convert SVG to other formats, for example EPS or PNG, with
   any user-specified size. This lets me support inferior browsers
   without making users install a plugin.

4. It can run from the command line for things like PNG export.

5. It's GPL.

Ergo:

1. I can draw an example of the graphic I need to generate.

2. I can then look at the SVG code to see how to achieve the result I
   want (instant SVG expert!) and then write PHP code to generate it
   automatically.

3. From within PHP, I can execute inkscape as a shell command and use
   the conversion feature to convert the image to PNG, at whatever
   size I wish, with no scaling artifacts. I then spit out a web page
   that displays the image normally.

Ted




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