Re: Level of Support; general questions

Hi Dominic and Emmanuel,
Thanks for the feedback.
> Hi Andy,
>
>   
>> * I would want to try to reduce any dependencies on external libraries
>> if at all possible.
>>     
>
> librsvg has its share of external dependencies. Pruning those down
> will be a modest challenge, but it's a long overdue task.
>
>   
>> * Possible changes to configure/make to allow cross-compiling.
>>     
>
> I don't think that this is needed. People cross-compile it for win32
> and embedded targets all the time.
>
>   
Excellent--one less thing to do!
>> * I won't be using Gnome, so any changes I would make wouldn't be
>> testable (by me) for Gnome.
>>     
>
> If you manage to slip a patch past me that breaks the ARGB->RGBA
> conversion function or the function that loads a byte buffer from a
> URI, I'll eat my hat...
>
>   
>> * My requirements are to support close to a full feature set.
>> Specifically, addition of animation, DOM, and scripting support.
>>     
>
> That's certainly a non-trivial amount of work.
>
>   
>> First off--is there any open source project that more closely matches
>> what I'm trying to do above?  I suspect not.  However, to me librsvg
>> seems as if it has been relatively stagnant for a while.  So if there's
>> something newer that's being actively developed on, I'd want to consider
>> that seriously instead of invest what could be quite a bit of time in
>> bringing this project up to snuff.
>>     
>
> WebKit's SVG backend might be what you're looking for. I have to say
> that I resent the implication that librsvg isn't "up to snuff" for
> what its intended audience is.
>
>   
Sorry--I didn't intend on being insulting.  When I said "up to snuff", I 
was referring to the fact that I'd have to be adding quite a bit of code 
to it (re: animation and scripting support) to make it compatible with 
my needs.  Which as you pointed out is a non-trivial amount of work.  I 
may check out WebKit and ksvg to see if they're any closer.  I suspect 
that the Mozilla engine will have a lot of browser dependencies, but 
I'll look at that one too, just in case.

>> * Documenting what versions of what (SVG Tiny/Basic/Full, 1.0/1.1/1.2)
>> are being supported.
>>     
>
> Much of the SVG 1.1 static spec is implemented, as well as a few parts
> of the SVG 1.2 static spec. Text handling is known to be deficient.
>
>   
>> * Full unit teseting for all supported features.
>>     
>
> Emmanuel has an excellent set of regression tests in SVN. It covers
> the SVG 1.1 static spec and many bugs reported against the product
> over time. I'm not sure that unit tests have much (if any) value here.
>
> Most of the divergences from the SVG 1.1 reference images are related
> to text handling, underspecified specifications/ambiguities, and not
> having particular fonts installed locally.
>
>   
Text handling is something that I would also want to improve if I can, 
so this is good to know.
>> * Moving todo list into SourceForge for task management.
>>     
>
> Why?
>
>   
>> * Enabling Sourceforge bug list and/or feature wish list.
>>     
>
> Why? Bugzilla is @ gnome.org.
>
>   
The above two are basically because I didn't find where bug reports were 
being tracked.  If they're tracked in Bugzilla via gnome, that's fine, 
and I have no reason to change the system.  However one recommendation 
might be to put a link somewhere on the sourceforge page so people know 
where to go for bugs/features.
>> * Moving project from CVS into SVN?
>>     
>
> It's in SVN already.
>
>   
Also, excellent.  Is sourceforge where I should be going for the 
project, or is it being maintained elsewhere?  What's there shows it as CVS.
>> * More generic support for rasterization layer (not necessarily fixed to
>> Gnome pixmaps or Cairo).
>>     
>
> Cairo is librsvg's rasterization layer abstraction. It's quite robust,
> quite generic, and supports more output formats than one can shake a
> proverbial stick at. It doesn't have any dependencies beyond libc and
> libpng (and the cairo authors consider the latter dependency to be an
> expedient mistake), other than the ones you explicitly wish it to
> have. Adding new backends to cairo is relatively trivial.
>
>   
In that case, I'm probably better off staying with Cairo and adding my 
own backend.  Again, my ignorance about Cairo capabilities.
>> And then of course after moving more of the project infrastructure into
>> Sourceforge, I would start adding the features I need and/or shoring up
>> what's there. Does this sound like work the team would want?  Or should
>> I try to find another project and/or fork this one?
>>     
>
> "Of course".
>
> I'm concerned that you've suggested such radical changes to the
> project without explaining your rationale.
>
> I'm not trying to scare you away. $deity knows that librsvg could use
> some more attention. I just want to understand where you're coming
> from.
>
>   
I thought I'd throw what were my list of concerns out there to see what 
current maintainers/developers on the project thought.  Having managed 
other open source efforts myself, I know that it's a little scary to get 
new blood--sometimes their vision is not what you originally had in 
mind.  I figured if I presented my "3 sigma" view of it, you'd be able 
to better assess whether or not you'd want me to contribute.  I really 
don't want to change the world here, but I do need to find something 
that can be adapted to what I need.  I figured if my list was too 
radically departing from the original intent that I could always fork 
the project.  The only reason for suggesting many of these things is out 
of ignorance--since I didn't see the bug/feature lists being used, I was 
assuming that the "TODO" file was it!  But hey, if the project is still 
alive and kicking, there's no reason to rock the boat. 

I'm going to do a little bit more research on the other projects 
mentioned.  I'd like not to have to reinvent the wheel, but I'm still 
thinking that doing this work on librsvg would be a good possibility.  I 
would think that having librsvg have more full featured support would be 
a good thing (of course, provided I don't break anything else).  Any 
other feedback or questions are welcome.

Thanks!
--Andy

> Best regards,
> Dom
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc.
> Still grepping through log files to find problems?  Stop.
> Now Search log events and configuration files using AJAX and a browser.
> Download your FREE copy of Splunk now >> http://get.splunk.com/
> _______________________________________________
> Librsvg-devel mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/librsvg-devel
>
>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc.
Still grepping through log files to find problems?  Stop.
Now Search log events and configuration files using AJAX and a browser.
Download your FREE copy of Splunk now >> http://get.splunk.com/

_______________________________________________
Librsvg-devel mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/librsvg-devel