[etoys-dev] remove the free-standing .gif?

[Scott Wallace]

On Aug 31, 2009, at 7:52 AM, Timothy Falconer wrote:
> On Aug 28, 2009, at 11:26 AM, K. K. Subramaniam wrote:
> On Friday 28 Aug 2009 4:18:17 am Scott Wallace wrote:
>>> So... do people think the time has now come (in advance of final
>>> shipment of this summer's release) to remove the .gif?
>> +1.
>>
>> In file managers with preview, children often confuse the .gif file  
>> for the
>> project.
>
> +1 ... when uploading projects to the website using a web browser  
> (which will become much more common), this can happen as well.


A sticking point here continues to be the possibility that existing  
superswiki, superswiki2, and perhaps other project servers, might rely  
on the presence of the .gif, and might misbehave if they can't find it.


The JIRA ticket for this issue is http://jira.immuexa.com/browse/SQ-315.

A fileout recently uploaded to that ticket has the comment: "...  
succeeds in stopping creation of the gif, and also no longer sends the  
superSwikiServer (if any) the filename of that gif file that used to  
be created. SuperSwikiServers and other project servers will now need  
to start using the .png thumbnail embedded in the outer .pr file.  
Unfortunately, I don't know how to test the consequences this change  
would have for existing superSwikiServers, etc., so I look to others  
to help here."


So, this is a call for help.  Who among our readership uses, or knows  
about, superswikis?

(1)  It's important to check how existing superswikis contend with  
projects saved to them using an image that has the ticket's fileout  
loaded (thus *not* creating a .gif).  Is there anyone out there who  
uses an active superswiki and who can test this?  (What about the  
Etoys/Illinois mechanism for putting projects on their site -- do  
*they* rely on the .gif?)

(2)  At some point, someone needs to undertake modifications to  
superswiki code so that the thumbnail is extracted from the  
embedded .png file.  I'm not certain how many different superswiki- 
like systems are in current use, nor who is the current maintainer of  
each.  So please speak up, anyone who can clarify, test, code, or  
otherwise contribute.


Without at least some testing for consequences with existing  
superswikis, I think we can't in good conscience stop creating  
the .gif thumbnail just yet...

   -- Scott