[Tech] Tech list catch-up (sort-of))

Thu May 7 07:55:30 PDT 2015

Hi LM

You've some interesting stuff there I've added to my reading list....!

>Would be curious how kompozer and/or Blue Griffon compare to Blue
>Fish.  Personally, I use a programming editor for html editing.

Personally, I use vim. Not looking to start a Holy War ;-)

The students in question are going to be under-12s, so we need to keep that
much in mind...

Bluefish is discontinued, so on the demo images I've been building I've
been including Geanie IDE. Alternate suggestions welcome.

Blue Griffon looks good, but is not in standard repos for 14.04 - do we
want to start adding PPAs?

>I recently updated Schoolforge's list of 3D software.  You can find it at:
>https://schoolforge.net/tags/3D <https://schoolforge.net/tags/3D>
>You can also check related tags like CAD for more suggestions.

Never heard of Schoolforge. Thanks for the tip :-)

I generally search on alternativeto.net with the "open source" license
filter...

> mtpaint ( http://mtpaint.sourceforge.net/ ) makes a nice lighter
> alternative to Gimp.  There's also rgbpaint (
> http://mtpaint.sourceforge.net/rgbpaint.html
<http://mtpaint.sourceforge.net/rgbpaint.html> ) for younger users.

> If you want ultra-lightweight (works well on older/slower computer
> systems), I like Rendera ( https://github.com/Mortis69/rendera and
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/rendera/
<http://sourceforge.net/projects/rendera/>), grafx2 (
> http://code.google.com/p/grafx2/ <http://code.google.com/p/grafx2/> ) and
command line tools like
> imagemagick, graphicsmagick, netpbm.

> There's also Tuxpaint ( http://www.tuxpaint.org/ ).  Someone's working
> on a SDL 2 port for it now.

So long as they work with zero fuss on Lubuntu/LXDE - can't ask elementary
teachers and pupils to debug minor inconveniences...

I've had problems with some of the ones you mentioned whilst on Mint/MATE,
will check them out on Lubuntu, but until I've used them in my own workflow
without hassle, I wouldn't be able to personally endorse... anybody have
opinions?

> I do all my music production with abcmidi and abcm2ps.  Timidity++
> with a good selection of soundfonts can convert midi to wave.  You can
> then use an audio editor or audio tools to edit add voices, etc.  You
> can also use the output of abc2midi to create Karaoke midi files for
> children to practice reading (or singing) to the music.

... intriguing :-)

> > My own photographic workflow makes use of digiKam and GIMP (I used to
use
> > Adobe Lightroom and PhotoShop; I'm finding I don't need them anymore
and am
> > now free of Apple!)

> Rawtherapee ( http://rawtherapee.com/ ) and Dark Table (
> http://www.darktable.org/ <http://www.darktable.org/> ) are supposed to
have some interesting
> features to replace Adobe Lightroom.

I'm a photographer. I've tried Darktable. In multiple DEs. Whilst the
completeness of its processing options is compelling, its GUI is.... well
let's say it's very frustrating and clunky when you get to editing more
than a handful of hobby pics. Perhaps that's just me.

I do triage, side-by-side comparison, and basic levelling in digiKam, and
anything more advanced I use GIMP - as I would have to anyhow whatever
light table software I used.

Never tried Rawtherapee but it's on my to-do list...

digiKam also has nice big buttons I'm sure the kids will prefer to the
abstract icons playing on mathematical concepts that dT has, and a lower
learning curve...

> I think you can use any distribution for anything.  The only thing is,
> you may have to build some things from source rather than counting
> that it's in an archive somewhere or part of the install.  Since
> you're working on a custom install, you can always add it in though.
>
> So, I'm wondering about how open this project would be to building
> some applications from source and providing custom versions of certain
> programs.  As a programmer, I do a lot of customizing of the programs
> I use and I build most of the Open Source programs I work with from
> source so that I can make the changes that I want.

My intent is to create customization instructions which themselves will
require least effort, which can then be provided as an image over the
network - compiling from source will not fly for such a workflow, unless
Partimus is ready to start a build service for school software. I think the
goal is for schools to be independent though...

That said, I am just volunteering, not steering, so someone else will have
to chime in there...

>  I've run across
> some really interesting Open Source programs that are only available
> as source and some good projects that may no longer be active but
> would work fine with a few patches.  Would be nice to be able to share
> some of those types of programs with educators/users.

Maybe offering packaging is the way you're looking to go? In which case,
better decide the distro base to standardize efforts across Partimus
projects... :-)

Given the audience... I think sticking with Lubuntu, or Ubuntu MATE will be
the way forward (LXDE will be being replaced with LXQt eventually, no idea
what that's going to entail further down the road for us in user space).

My penny for your 2 cents :-)

Tai

===
Tai Kedzierski

IT Services Specialist
http://helpuse.com
+44 (0) 7526 963 612 (portable GB)

  I use www.libreoffice.org

*"Open Source Free Software is a matter of liberty, not price."*
https://bitly.com/1gXkUcc

On 7 May 2015 at 14:41, LM <lmemsm at gmail.com> wrote:

> > === Software requirements
>
> So this is the area I'm personally most interested in.  Figured I'd
> add my two cents and see what others thought on some of this.
>
> >
> > Pulling from Abigail's list, these divide fairly nicely into two
> > categories:
> >
> > /==
> > *I am currently running:* (productivity)
> > Google docs
> > GIMP *
> > Blue Fish editor (html)
> > Firefox
> > Chrome (which crashes a lot and needs to get removed)
>
> Would be curious how kompozer and/or Blue Griffon compare to Blue
> Fish.  Personally, I use a programming editor for html editing.
>
> >
> > *It would be great to have:* (media production)
> > 3d  modeling software
> > video editing software
> > sound editing software
> > drawing software
>
> I recently updated Schoolforge's list of 3D software.  You can find it at:
> https://schoolforge.net/tags/3D
> You can also check related tags like CAD for more suggestions.
>
> Any details on type of video editing?  Tools can vary a lot depending
> on video format.  Personally, I'm most interested in video software
> that can create DVDs such as DVDStyler ( http://www.dvdstyler.org/en/
> ).
>
> I have a nice list of sound creation/editing tools if anyone needs it.
>
> > Productivity - these can be added as standard to the Lubuntu machine.
> > GIMP may be a bit heavy for the older machines, and I might suggest
> moving
> > it into the media category. If only light image editing needs doing, I
> can
> > suggest gPaint which is more like MS Paint in terms of features and
> > lightness.
>
> mtpaint ( http://mtpaint.sourceforge.net/ ) makes a nice lighter
> alternative to Gimp.  There's also rgbpaint (
> http://mtpaint.sourceforge.net/rgbpaint.html ) for younger users.
>
> If you want ultra-lightweight (works well on older/slower computer
> systems), I like Rendera ( https://github.com/Mortis69/rendera and
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/rendera/), grafx2 (
> http://code.google.com/p/grafx2/ ) and command line tools like
> imagemagick, graphicsmagick, netpbm.
>
> There's also Tuxpaint ( http://www.tuxpaint.org/ ).  Someone's working
> on a SDL 2 port for it now.
>
> > *3d modelling* - *Blender* seems to be the preferred software for 3d
> > animation. The Free video "Big Buck Bunny" was created using Blender as a
> > demo of what it can achieve - plays with the quality of a Pixar short!
>
> Blender seems like a nice program and I've seen some great demos on
> it.  I mentioned it to someone in our district who's doing 3D printing
> and he said the learning curve was a bit much for his younger
> students.  Seemed fine for the older ones though.
>
> > *Sound editing* - for sound /editing/ *Audacity* is a good choice. For
> > /music production/ a heftier suite is called for. Perhaps *LMMS*?
>
> I do all my music production with abcmidi and abcm2ps.  Timidity++
> with a good selection of soundfonts can convert midi to wave.  You can
> then use an audio editor or audio tools to edit add voices, etc.  You
> can also use the output of abc2midi to create Karaoke midi files for
> children to practice reading (or singing) to the music.
>
> > Audacity is adequate, and has a simpler GUI, which will be better for the
> > elementary school kids she is teaching
>
> mhwaveedit seemed to have an easier interface than Audacity, but it
> doesn't do as much.  It is more lightweight though.
>
> > My own photographic workflow makes use of digiKam and GIMP (I used to use
> > Adobe Lightroom and PhotoShop; I'm finding I don't need them anymore and
> am
> > now free of Apple!)
>
> Rawtherapee ( http://rawtherapee.com/ ) and Dark Table (
> http://www.darktable.org/ ) are supposed to have some interesting
> features to replace Adobe Lightroom.
>
> > For a full creativity set, I could aslo suggest adding *Scribus* to the
> > standard set for desktop publishing & professional layout preparation
> > (equivalent proprietary is Adobe InDesign)
>
> Lyx is also a good option.  Have a friend who typeset her 'zines with it.
>
> > *--- A note on creativity/media production distros:*
> >
> > Whilst Lubuntu will be perfectly fine for most productivity and study
> > tasks, you may want to consider a different distro for media.
>
> I think you can use any distribution for anything.  The only thing is,
> you may have to build some things from source rather than counting
> that it's in an archive somewhere or part of the install.  Since
> you're working on a custom install, you can always add it in though.
>
> So, I'm wondering about how open this project would be to building
> some applications from source and providing custom versions of certain
> programs.  As a programmer, I do a lot of customizing of the programs
> I use and I build most of the Open Source programs I work with from
> source so that I can make the changes that I want.  I've run across
> some really interesting Open Source programs that are only available
> as source and some good projects that may no longer be active but
> would work fine with a few patches.  Would be nice to be able to share
> some of those types of programs with educators/users.
> _______________________________________________
> Tech mailing list
> Tech at lists.partimus.org
> http://lists.partimus.org/listinfo.cgi/tech-partimus.org
>
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