Hi...
New to inkscape.....
i was just wondering how responsive and receptive ink scape is to new ideas...
Basically i have alot of things i would like to see in a vector app as i am from a digitizing background (embroidery)....

Im an old hat at corel but was a bit frustrated with some aspects of it and was actually very taken with Xara (especially also with all the hype about the open source thing ECT...)any way to cut a long story short i tried running some of my ideas on the "Talk graphics forums" and was really not at all well received...

I was told that my ideas were an embarrassment to myself (in a private email) and also privately and publicly on the forum that i should try studying software development and design before giving any more suggestions....

My ideas post basically degenerated into me trying to justify myself and others arguing left right and center about trivialities....
this resulted in them actually starting a new partition on their message board especially for ideas and it was impossible for me to even make a suggestion at all.....(IE nothing appears straight away with out them approving of the ideas first or the person in my case).

I have to say that this experience on this other forum has been punishing for me...as all i wanted to do was help develop their product...I obviously have to look at moderating the tone of my comments a little.

Is it just me or are all software communities resistant to change and/or new ideas.

Your experience sounds weird to me, I've never encountered such hostility anywhere when it comes to just suggestions. Maybe you came on too strong with your ideas?

Sometimes there are requests filed in the Inkscape bug tracker where people reporting them aren't polite, they describe Inkscape and its developers using bad words and blame them as if Inkscape or developers hurt them in some way just because a bug hasn't been resolved yet or something similar. Still those requests aren't removed, rather they get very patient responses from developers and Inkscapers trying to explain the situation.

Inkscape is a volunteer project, and there is no schedule what should be done first or latest. There are priority levels for bugs and requests but developers resolve them as they wish, usually a developer works on an area he personally has some interest in. So as you can tell it's very organic and it's worked really well so far. If you badly need a feature you are encouraged to work on it your self, or hire someone else if you're not a programmer.

This doesn't mean Inkscape doesn't value user input, there are a lot of wishlist items on the bug tracker and they provide excellent feedback to developers about what most Inkscape users want, it just means that you can't push on a deadline for something to be implemented by volunteers.

If you have some ideas about improving Inkscape you are welcome to test them out here on the forum if you don't want to go directly to the bug tracker. Often people post such topics and the forum and often there already is a request reported for that issue in the tracker. You can also search the tracker, you'll probably find some of your ideas are already there

You claim to have a laundry list of features that you would like implemented. Don't we all. Do you have any programming experience? Is it possible that you could participate in development so that you could work on the things that you are passionate about? I'm sure you would be welcomed. The more the merrier. There are several very smart developers here, but perhaps your voice would be louder on the Inkscape-devel mailing list (http://www.inkscape.org/mailing_lists.php?lang=en). Have you subscribed? What about Launchpad (https://launchpad.net/inkscape)? Have you been there?

I would think that the developers of Inkscape are somewhat receptive to new ideas but I would expect the majority of them to be waist deep implementing their own features or features that have been in the waiting for sometime. One can have a look at the roadmaps for what is coming down the pike (http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Roadmap) to get a sense for what is being developed. A good number of the future features look rather difficult to implement in my opinion. I suppose if it were a piece a cake then we all would be developers. So I think the current developers of Inkscape are open minded enough to listen to us users but that doesn't mean we're going to get what we want tomorrow. Besides, they can't be all things to all people. Some things take time after all and there aren't enough developers to implement everything we want. I suppose we should show some patience.

I think it's unfortunate for anyone on a forum to be belittled to the point of frustration with everyone else that they no longer wish to participate. It doesn't show a sense of maturity for those posting rude or sarcastic comments and reflects bad on the forum as a whole. That's something that I cannot tolerate. On the other hand, this forum is different. I have an enormous amount of respect for microUgly (the creator of this forum) and many of the moderators, developers, and users (even prkos to single someone out) that frequent this space. They have always been pleasant to me and I hope I have been pleasant back. Everyone tries to help where they can. I would assume that you would be treated with the same level of politeness that I have received. This really is a great forum. My only wish is that I could participate in this community more often.

Rule of thumb: Treat people with respect and you'll be treated with respect.

yeah thanks...
lets put it this way..
i didnt do anything there that im not now doing here.....
And i havent been called an idiot yet so i think im doing well sofar.....

as for programming i have had some exposure to it...but im not a programmer myself... if i were i wouldnt be just talking about what i wanted to do.....my ideal senario would be if some programmer were to take up 2 or 3 of my "PET" wants and implement them......LOL

I participated briefly on a graphics forum a couple of years ago (not this one) where less than polite comments were often posted and not removed or even moderated. I cannot fathom why people participate in such forums....but then I cannot fathom any injustice or egregious behavior. Yet it's part of life as we know it....

Anyway I've never seen anything of the sort here. All members have had endless patience with me, the quintessential, and seemingly perpetual newbie It took me some time to understand the whole Open Source concept, and in some ways, I still don't understand it. But that's probably because I'm not programmer.

So ditto prkos and heathenx. And welcome aboard!

thanks brynn...
Nice to be here....
look forward to discussing stuff when i get a bit more grounded in inkscape.....
David

You'll probably find that I'm the most arrogant and hostile person here Unfortunately there is an etiquette to using a forum and the members of a long established forums will have little tolerance to those who are not familiar with it. Sometimes it can help to be wary and test the waters before you jump in.

I'm aware how intimidating an established community can be so Forum Rules are an effort to rush people into the do's and don'ts and then I'll soemtimes direct people to How to ask questions the smart way if I feel their questions are lazy. Perhaps because we are still a young forum, we haven't attracted the types who get aggressive and I hope that doesn't change.

Having said that, discussing ideas isn't the same as asking how to do something. There's no real documented etiquette and there's a lot more freedom to the discussion. There's only two things you should avoid, that's suggesting how easy something should be, and demanding a time-frame.

Note also that this forum is not an official forum and it's definitely not the primary hang out of Inkscape developers. So discussing an new feature here is really just a way to refine your suggestion and gain some perspective from other Inkscape users. After that, you should post the idea on the Launchpad site. If you wish to talk about an idea with actual developers you should do so on the Mailing List--but the same rules apply, don't go demanding time frames or suggesting how easy something should be.

Anyway, welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy participating here.

microUgly wrote:You'll probably find that I'm the most arrogant and hostile person here

Methinks I could challenge you for both of those

Yes i did get a baptism of fire on the xara forum and i think i am still a bit wary not to repeat mistakes i made there...
But the whole thing has left a very sour taste in my mouth as the people who i feel were most to blame for this thing escalating when there is no reason it need have (apart from myself) are the moderators...

They expected that as moderators they had the final word and also the moral high ground.
And so never made any attempt to explain or moderate their harsh and often mean spirited comments even though i kept on asking them to explain why...ETC and also why even though i was often being provoked by users, that i would be the only one pulled up if i responded and not the original provocateur...

Yet pointing out this to them only served to enrage them and with each question i asked no attempt to answer or justify themselves was ever made only escalations in their response and punishments.

I even got a 2 month suspension for a private email to a moderator (as i was trying to spare them the online debate)...IE but they were cross moderating their email private emails!....

I later read through allot of old posts and realized that the core group of about 6 people, 3 or so being moderators were all thick as thieves....and so i was barking up the wrong tree i guess...

Lesson being: if your told off, shut up...they are right and you are wrong...
if you question this you will then be perceived as so offensive that you will then be so heavily moderated that you may as well leave...

i wont be questioning a moderator on a forum again you can be assured of that...
But i really think they should have more of a sense of humor...
They kept calling me a troller so i changed my avitar to a troll and this also evoked a suspension and also email with expletives.... but it did sign off with Have a nice Long Weekend....So maybe they did have a sense of humor after all....