Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 7:49 pm Post subject: Here's a target: FrameMaker
Most, if not all of you, probably know about FrameMaker ... that excellent long-doc product that Adobe killed off the Mac version of.
I would love to see an OSX product that would somehow address the void, but before you say "NeoOffice is getting better all the time", remember the point is this: There are a lot of Windows and some Solaris Frame installations out there, and in the Frame environment, this "new" product would need to read and write binaries (MIF is a starting point).
Whether it's a Frame open sourced look-alike, or a version of NeoOffice that reads and writes Frame files, then it doesn't matter to me, just so long as it (a) has Frame's features of conditional text, variables, cross-refs, etc., and (2) reads and writes Frame's binaries.
Probably 90 per cent of my business is writing in Frame. It just kills me that I spent $$$ on my 17-inch PowerBook, only to find that to continue in my line of work I am stuck using 7.0 in Classic, or (wretch!) Virtual PC.
Joined: Jun 23, 2003 Posts: 36 Location: Seward, Alaska, USA
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:55 am Post subject:
On reading the info available at Adobe's web site, I don't quite understand in what significant way FrameMaker is different from InDesign.
If you're looking for a reasonable alternative to InDesign or Quark Xpress, have a look at Scribus (http://www.scribus.net/). The 1.3 development branch is currently functional with a native Aqua pre-alpha available for download and trial. The stable 1.2.x branch is currently only easily available for Mac via Fink (http://fink.sourceforge.net/).
On reading the info available at Adobe's web site, I don't quite understand in what significant way FrameMaker is different from InDesign.
I read many messages from framemaker users about: I think framemaker have a fast way to use style in complex document, and a solid and simple way to use the call cross references, that indesing has not.
Quote:
If you're looking for a reasonable alternative to InDesign or Quark Xpress, have a look at Scribus (http://www.scribus.net/). The 1.3 development branch is currently functional with a native Aqua pre-alpha available for download and trial. The stable 1.2.x branch is currently only easily available for Mac via Fink (http://fink.sourceforge.net/).
I tryed the aqua version and there is a lot of work to have a useable version of the program. From the gui to the missing things (like pantone, or a way to colorize a grey image) I think scribus is not a real alternative at the moment.
A good program, a bad bad gui. Complex, hard to understand, and often it give me problem with fonts creating pdf using quartz (good on screen, strange spaces here and there in the fonts).
I tryed those too: I never undertsand how cenon works.
LOL! I had the exact same reaction! Anyway, I think Cenon is more situated in the Illustrator/Freehand realm, with a bunch of other things bolted on....
Smokey _________________ "[...] whether the duck drinks hot chocolate or coffee is irrelevant." -- ovvldc and sardisson in the NeoWiki
Joined: Jun 23, 2003 Posts: 36 Location: Seward, Alaska, USA
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 12:46 pm Post subject:
fabrizio venerandi wrote:
I tryed the aqua version and there is a lot of work to have a useable version of the program. From the gui to the missing things (like pantone, or a way to colorize a grey image) I think scribus is not a real alternative at the moment.
I suggest that there will be no FOSS program with Pantone colorspaces until/unless Pantone opens their color space (There are ways to fake it, though.) Remember that the Aqua version is in pre-alpha state, as is the rest of the 1.3 code-branch. To try a rock-solid stable version, you need to install from Fink.
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I tryed those too: I never undertsand how cenon works.
I never quite understood Cenon, myself. It seems very similar to Create, which I also don't quite understand. I have never actually tried RSG.
Between OOo (and NeoO), Scribus, GIMP and Inkscape, most of my needs are solved. Still need to occasionally fire up Graphic Converter, but that's getting less and less common. _________________ Faster than a speeding slug!
I'm Paraplegic Racehorse.
suggest that there will be no FOSS program with Pantone colorspaces until/unless Pantone opens their color space (There are ways to fake it, though.) Remember that the Aqua version is in pre-alpha state, as is the rest of the 1.3 code-branch. To try a rock-solid stable version, you need to install from Fink.
I can wait for the aqua release. I try again scribus and I got a better impression, the weakest thing I found is the gui, and general feeling (it is slow and many features are missing).
I'll try it to a more deep test.
Quote:
Between OOo (and NeoO), Scribus, GIMP and Inkscape, most of my needs are solved. Still need to occasionally fire up Graphic Converter, but that's getting less and less common.
Actually I use neo at works with the macmini. But for personal writing on my powerbook I prefer faster application like mellel or avenir.
About dtp, well, I have not found a good application for my powerbook: graphic converter have not a good cymk support, pages seems a nice application, but it is quite slow and missing many professional things (color separation, pantone, et ceterae), gimp have not a real cymk support, scribus -actually- is quite unstable, desktop publisher pro is THE instable program...
I think that the 1500 euro for adobe creative suite are still the best way to work with dtp.
For example actually I have to do a little newspaper in 2 colors... and this is a big trouble using low-cost programs.
Joined: May 25, 2003 Posts: 4752 Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 10:32 pm Post subject:
For the quickest way to an Aqua gimp you want to look into Aqua GTK...if GTK is ported, then the gimp will come along for free. Unfortunatley Aqua GTK has stagnated, both the Carbon approach and the Cocoa approach
For the quickest way to an Aqua gimp you want to look into Aqua GTK...if GTK is ported, then the gimp will come along for free. Unfortunatley Aqua GTK has stagnated, both the Carbon approach and the Cocoa approach
hub, the founder/maintainer of the Cocoa AbiWord port, has started doing some stuff on porting GTK to Aqua: http://www.figuiere.net/hub/blog/?Gtk-macos-x As long as he doesn't get too ticked off at Apple or too distracted by his other projects, he's probably the guy who will pull it off
Smokey _________________ "[...] whether the duck drinks hot chocolate or coffee is irrelevant." -- ovvldc and sardisson in the NeoWiki
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