Re: [Gnome-print] X-print?

[Michael Meeks <michael helixcode com>]

Hi Christian,

On Sat, 25 Nov 2000, Christian Schaller wrote:
> I am just wondering why StarOffice aims at using xprint (whatever that
> is) from reading through the archive, since it seems that it will
> provide simple Postscript output only.  Considering that Sun has
> proclaimed that OpenOffice will be made part of GNOME I am having big
> trouble seeing why the excelent gnome-print library isn't used
> instead. The advantages should be numerous.

        The issue is under constant consideration; furthermore Martin is
correct. The advantage of X-Print is that you can use the same WYSIWYG  
core to render both the on-screen view, and also to print from. This is
extremely useful for a large number of scenarios. [ X-Print is broken in
other ways though ].

        Furthermore, the OO code is architected around X-Print, switching
to gnome-print from this model would involve what was done in gnumeric, a
total cut and paste + re-write of the rendering code; most people would
view this as an evil waste of time. The correct approach is to replace
X-Print with something similar.
  
> My take is that if the printing people at Sun worked togheter with the
> GNOME-print developers we would get both high-quality printing in
> OpenOffice and a fantastic printing system for Unix sooner.
 
        There is much fruitful code writing possible in this area.
 
> So my suggestion is that this list is simply killed of and the Sun
> developers here move onto the GNOME print
> list:(http://lists.helixcode.com/mailman/listinfo/gnome-print).
 
        That is an interesting suggestion. The problem is, that IMHO many
problems in life are not solved by endless discussion, but by concrete
action and leadership.        

> in addition to the GNOME hackers so I think it has every potential of
> bringing us a professional printing solution much sooner than Sun
> implementing something of its own, which I feel has been the attitude
> offered by the Sun hackers on this list.
        
        Whilst gnome-print is a nice architecture for replacing code that
already has postscript output code, it is not the perfect solution yet.

> This way myself and other users get an better Office Suite, and a
> printing system for Unix that truly can compare to the ones enjoyed by
> Windows and Mac users.
        
        The printing system we come up with for Gnome / OO has to be
portable to Windows and the Mac.

        Regards,
          
                Michael.

-- 
 mmeeks@gnu.org  <><, Pseudo Engineer, itinerant idiot