[scribus] fontmatrix makes firefox go gah gah

[John Beardmore]

a.l.e wrote:

>> No snobbery at all. 80% of Scribus issues that can't be resolved are 
>> related to Ubuntu, and the reason is that Canonical is heavily 
>> modifying the Qt libraries used by Scribus.
> 
> it's a pity that at the same time 80% of the scribus users are using 
> ubuntu (the ones using windows have been excluded from the statistics)...
> 
> 
> on the one side, i fully agree that it's not the job of the scribus team 
> to solve the qt issues in ubuntu (or even to find workarounds for them).
> 
> but -- at the same time -- this constant ubuntu bashing imho harms the  
> scribus own reputation (don't you wonder what all the ubuntu users think 
> of those mails?)

Speaking as somebody who started with redhat, then moved to Debian, then 
Ubuntu, I'm quite happy to move again.

I've noticed my own crop of stupidities with Ubuntu, particularly re 
network configuration, but also with the build tools for various drivers.

A point comes where not being broken is worth more than superficial 
friendliness !


> and generally the reputation of free software (what 
> will somebody doing her first steps with free software think about such 
> cheap "kindergarden" fights?).

With luck they'll read the messages and realise that there are 
underlying issues.


> so: can we stop it?

Before I read about the problems with Scribus and Ububtu I thought we 
were just unlucky. Now I know we're not the only ones I'm looking at 
Debian, Fedora or OpenSUSE.

Not entirely sure which yet, but I think we'll be junking our existing 
Kubuntu install. Investing more effort in overcoming the foibles of 8.04 
seems silly. We could move to later [K]Ubuntu, but why should we if they 
are going to break the portability of Qt etc ?


> i think that suggesting the use of *SUSE or simply pointing to the fact 
> that the problems may be related to some ubuntu changes to QT should be 
> enough.

Maybe, but I've worked on all sorts of platforms over the years, and 
(with working hardware !), I've never come across so much grief doing 
things so simple as I have with 8.04


> getting a ubuntu hacker (or better the ubuntu qt packagers) to talk with 
> the scribus and fontmatrix teams would be even better!

You're right in a sense, but given that time is always the most precious 
commodity, it does come down to the "it's not the job of the scribus 
team to solve the qt issues in ubuntu", or even play match maker between 
other development teams point.


Cheers, J/.
-- 
John Beardmore,MSc EDM (Open),B.A. Chem (Oxon),CMIOSH,CEnv,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