[scribus] Scribus Limits, Present and Future

[John Beardmore]

Peter Nermander wrote:

>> I have often wondered what it is about Scribus that makes it run so
>> slowly with long documents. It's a common complaint, so I'm sure it's
>> not just me. And I know zero about programming, so I have no idea what
>> the developers can do to improve the situation.
> 
> If I understand things right, Scribus is not very good at "knowing
> what needs to be re-done". So each time you move inside the document
> Scribus must more or less re-render the whole document.

Or presumably for an edit to a text frame or its contents, every page 
containing subsequent linked frames ?

For any other type of object, I can't see why it could affect anything 
other than its own page or the opposite page ?


> The developers know about these problems but fixing them needs major
> re-writes, and that takes time.

Good news !!


> One thing that has to be kept in mind is the Scribus is a tool under
> development, it is unfair to compare it to programs that have been
> available for many years. Programs like InDesign would probably not
> even have been released as closed beta when they were as "young" as
> Scribus.

I wish !  Far from being a 'replacement for Pagemaker', InDesign 1.0 was 
a pointless distraction. Fragile and buggy. 1.5 was vaguely usable, and 
they did the 1 to 1.5 upgrade very cheap !


> That is part of the Open Source "culture", you can try the
> program out already from the beginning of the development cycle. Some
> Open Source programs never leave their "childhood" because the
> developers never find time to finish. So we should be happy as long as
> Scribus developes.

Indeed !


Cheers, J/.
-- 
John Beardmore, MSc EDM (Open), B.A. Chem (Oxon), CMIOSH, AIEMA, MEI
Managing Director, T4 Sustainability Limited. http://www.T4sLtd.co.uk/
Energy Audit, Carbon Management, Design Advice, Sustainable Energy
Consultancy and Installation, Carbon Trust Standard Registered Assessor
Phone: 0845 4561332   Mobile: 07785 563116   Skype: t4sustainability