[etoys-dev] Inkscape envy

[Jerome Peace]

--- On Fri, 8/28/09, K. K. Subramaniam <subbukk at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: K. K. Subramaniam <subbukk at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [etoys-dev] Inkscape envy
> To: etoys-dev at squeakland.org
> Cc: "Jerome Peace" <peace_the_dreamer at yahoo.com>
> Date: Friday, August 28, 2009, 2:23 AM
> On Friday 28 Aug 2009 3:47:47 am
> Jerome Peace wrote:
> > The thing people who play with morphic will find
> interesting are the basic
> > objects that inkscape supports and the way they use
> handles to support the
> > various features. Compare our rectangles, ellipses and
> stars to theirs.
> > Notice that they also have ways to manipulate paths
> and add a special
> > object for spirals.

Subbu replied:
> Inkscape is essentially a shape algebra tool with art
> elements as basic units 
> (point, line, color, space) and artistic principles built
> into tools (add, 
> subtract, balance, value, proportion) etc. The part I like
> about it is that it 
> blends both analytical (spin controls for x, y, width,
> height) and gestaltic 
> (tools in the left panel) approaches very well.
> 
> It is useful for higher age groups (i.e. those who are
> ready to learn of 
> permutations and combinations, say 12+).
> 
> What it lacks is support for constraints (e.g. line x
> should be perpendicular 
> to y). Metapost (program) and MPLib (library) handle this
> very well. A MPLib 
> plugin would be ideal to stretch Squeaks for higher age
> groups.
>
Hmmm. My curiosity with Inkscape and Squeak comes from comparing their capabilities. What part of the interface is better in inkscape?
Which is better in squeak? How would I (and particularly the child inside me) want to interact with the shapes inside squeak or inside inkscape?

I don't want to think too much about older vs. younger kids. I want to find something that spans the time spectrum. Low threshold, high ceiling was Logo's goal. What would help the child component of squeak capture that?

Inkscape embodies the high ceiling aspect. Amazing things have been done with it from the little I've seen so far. Some of the interface embodies the low threshold. I can generate stars and make amazing mandelas without too much effort. Still some of the things squeak does work better as an interface that what inkscape has chosen. The targeted audience is different as you suggest.

Also the liveliness is different between the two with squeak winning at the moment. Svg rendering is not smooth or fast yet on my current equipment and software. I wonder why that is?

Anyway thank you and Karl for your thoughts. I'm still early in my explorations.

Yours in curiosity and service, --Jerome Peace