[Scribus] More on Xara and Inkscape

[Gregory Pittman]

Christoph Sch?fer wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Very interesting article on Newsforge:
>
> http://trends.newsforge.com/trends/05/10/13/1941236.shtml?tid=138&tid=131
>
> Looks like Xara and Inkscape will be cooperating closely in the future.

I'd say it's as interesting for what it doesn't say as much as it does 
say. What it does say focuses on development of a method for 
interchanging file formats, perhaps to some extent to increase the 
viability of the .xar format, which now is in its own noninterchangeable 
world. Whether intended or not, I get a sense of desperation on Xara's 
part, that they are realizing that the best software doesn't always win 
when you start bumping against the established leaders (of market share).

Even if this file interchangeability comes about, it's hard to imagine 
them being able to abandon the .xar format -- intuitively it seems there 
is more information in them than an .svg (for example) can handle.  On 
the other hand, if anyone can take a .xar and load it into other 
software (like Inkscape, Scribus...), or have a standalone transformtion 
tool, that's a major leap for them.

Greg