On Mon, 5 Jul 2004, Alan G Isaac wrote:
On Sun, 04 Jul 2004, Andrzej Grzegorcyzk apparently wrote:
Is it not better just to make simple plugin to
gnumeric which can send data xmgrace and the rest of problem live for
xmgrace team.
I am another user sympathetic to this argument, although I
would prefer to see gnuplot used. (A number of applications
already use gnuplot this way successfully, because it is
built to facilitate this. One example: the gretl
econometric package, which includes gnuplot.)
I'll put in my twopence-worth on this. I'm a gnumeric fan, but I have
to agree with Andrzej's point that gnumeric's graphing capacities are
quite primitive. And the response, that if we just wait a little
these capacities will be terrific, without any need for third-party
plugins, has worn thin over the several years I've heard it made.
However, I tend to agree with Alan, that if the gnumeric developers
were to consider linking to a third-party graphing engine they'd be
better off considering gnuplot. This is on the grounds that (a)
gnuplot is "standard equipment" on most GNU/Linux platforms, where
gnumeric is most likely to be found, while (b) xmgrace depends (as I
understand) on the Motif libraries, which are antiquated and not
standard equipment on GNU/Linux.