[Cialug] Stirring the Pot for Installfest

[D. Joe Anderson]

On Fri, Mar 25, 2005 at 01:07:05PM -0600, Theron Conrey wrote:
> D. Joe Anderson wrote:
> 
> >On Wed, Mar 23, 2005 at 07:13:49PM +0000, Theron Conrey wrote:
> > 
> >
> >>Does the LUG generally distribute posters etc prior to an event such as 
> >>this?
> >>
> >>http://www.conrey.org/installfest.png

> >You mean, like this?
> >
> >http://dui.debian.net/hardcopy/graphics/poster/cialug/
> >
> >One pet-peeve of mine when it comes to the posting of material
> >like this is the frequent lack of posting of editable copies. 

OK.  First off:  Thanks for working on a poster.  In particular,
the text on my posters tends to be whatever font is handy,
without any of the kind of sprucing up you've done.  

> Lack of editable copies I concur is a bad thing if multiple folks are 
> trying to work on something.

How do you know someone else doesn't want to work on it?  If you
don't make it available, they have to ask for it, and that's a
barrier to their participation.  A needless one, IMO, given how
easy it is to make the editable version available, and one for
which free software users in particular probably have less
patience.

> However in this scenario, I believe that the frustration is
> slightly off target and I hope that we adjust it, or I'll be
> "set ablaze" in the process.

Let me put it this way--I'm not losing any sleep over it, and
probably won't try to set you on fire or anything (yet ;-).

> I'm unaware as to whom I would be submitting my editable copies to 
> etc...... 

You don't submit them *to* anyone.  You put it on your web page
or ftp server or whatever, right alongside the other version.  I
know this isn't as hard a concept as you're making it out to be
because that's exactly what you've done below.  

> As far as viewing them on the web for input, or as for 
> "stirring the pot" a file posted in a format that is a free and patent 
> free format, such as png, that is also capable of being rendered 
> correctly in a web browser without plugins should suffice. (I made the 
> assumtion that some of the LUG would want to view the poster without 
> opening an additional app other than a browser, and beyond that it not 
> require any additional applications)

Yeah.  I've got no problem with that at all.  You done good.  

> Making corrections and improvements assumes that there is person to whom 
> the corrections / improvements would be submitted to, even if it's the 
> creator. 

Well, I guess that makes sense, if one is hung up on who gets
recognized as the creator.  It's a fair point.  <*insert long
drawn out reputation economics exposition*>

> Making the furthur assumption that I was collecting 
> improvements / corrections (which by the way I'd be happy to do) would 
> mean that I would need to know to whom I was providing a final copy of 
> an image/poster/thingamahgig to.

Again, what's wrong with just putting it on a server and sending
the link to the list?

> If someone (is that you Mr. Anderson?) is collecting this type of thing, 
> I would gladly submit these types of things.

I do collect them, from time to time, when I'm paying attention
and have the time etc etc.  I also have put together a whole
pile of them that incorporate elements from other people, under
the parent 'hardcopy' directory of the link I gave.  It's a real
mess, full of lots and lots of versions, most variations on
several different themes.

> Good point however as to not at least linking to a
> downloadable editable version.

Aha.  finally :-)

> http://www.conrey.org/installfest.xcf.gz
> 
> Confused abit however as to your comment to OpenOffice and Tex however. 

That wasn't meant to be an exhaustive list.  Could have said
sodipodi or scribus or whatever that new thing is that I heard
about last week or so but the name of which I've forgotten, etc.

> I am using the GIMP for image editing, and manipulation. <regurgitated 
> info>As I read the GIMP falls under the GPL and that the xcf file format 
> is it's native file format. </regurgitated info> So does saving a GIMP 
> file as a .png (which is a free and patent free extension) makes it a 
> proprietary file? Even though I can still edit it in the GIMP?

Yeah.  The GIMP is cool.  It's easier to see what you're using,
and to know if one wants to work towards creating a derivative
of the raw file or not when one can see the filename extension
in a URL ;-)
 
> *nods to gif reference

Cheers,

-- 
D. Joe Anderson         http://www.etrumeus.com/~deejoe
"DRM [...] is to copyright law as a machine gun on                                          
a motion detector is to real estate law"  -- Don Marti