Re: dia...latest version (version #....???????!) for ubuntu.

[Alejandro Imass <aimass yabarana com>]

On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 3:51 PM, William N. Murray <gwarpp gmail com> wrote:
> Hello Dia,
> I've been using dia for a long time, mostly under Redhat. i just recently
> downloaded the (probably newest) version
> for Ubuntu and i had some comments.

What version?

> It LOOKS nice....but I find it much harder to use than previous versions.

Which ones? Please specify.

> International symbols and icons are all well and good,

(my comments for 0.97.2)

I disagree. The new integrated/mdi interface is sleek and much easier
to use, especially if you are working with several files at a time.
The new versions are _a lot_ better that olders ones and I have been
using DIA since circa 1998 when layers were new.

> but only the two rightmost of the topmost icons NAME THEMSELVES on
> mouseover: "toggles object snapping", "toggles snap to grid". I still have

Yes, the tooltips are not working for most buttons. But I am baffled
that is your way of judging how good or bad the new version is
compared to older versions.

> no idea what the icon between "print" and "cut" is supposed to do. It
> actually took me quite awhile to recognize that the icon to the right of cut
> is "paste". Fortunately, I remembered that "ctrl-v" was
> paste....Unfortunately, I had to remember it.

The tooltip is broken, but the icon matches the menu option so it's
not like rocket science to figure out what the icons mean. Besides, in
previous versions you would have to use the menu anyway, so what is
the big deal with the tooltips?

> It's not obvious how to get to "help" (or "version number"!) and it's
> certainly not obvious how to look up the fact that "ctrl-v"="paste" or that
> "ctrl-z"="undo". I seem to remember lots of keyboard shortcuts exist but I
> see no way to look them up. That is not good. Some of us prefer written
> language.

I'm guessing something is seriously broken in your particular version.
You need to specify exactly what versions you were using in RedHat and
what version you are using in Ubuntu.

Help is in the Help Menu and About is there as well.
All shortcuts are clearly listed in the menus

> Ich spreche vier longxvojn pli-malpli bone kaj he estudiado
> algunos de otros.
> I consider the previous sentence in German/Esperanto/Spanish, to be much
> more comprehensible than the new "all-intuitive"
> control interface for dia.

Is that supposed to be clever? Why don't you start by reading this and
see if it's comprehensible:

http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Cheers,

-- Alejandro Imass