Hi all, when reading this mailing list during the past, I have noticed an increasing appearance of the sentence "Scribus 1.3.5svn is a development version an should not be used productively."
THIS SENTENCE IS VERY TRUE. However, there is a small "but" to this large claim. I have been using 1.3.5svn productively for quite a while, and right now I am in the middle of finishing the (by far) largest project, and I'd like to share some thoughts and impressions about doing so. This project -- circulation 700, (probably) 68 pages (DIN/ISO A4), full color, advertisement sales well in the 4-figure area (Euros) -- is the bi-annual Freshman Information Magazine of my university and its student body. This is the first time it is done with Scribus (InDesign so far), and -- as I said -- I'm using the 1.3.5svn version. My experience is the following: You can use 1.3.5svn productively. However, this is a small claim with a large BUT: 1. The almighty "know what you're doing" applies better than anywhere else. I have been using 1.3.5svn for almost a year now, recompling very frequently, seeing very good development, but also learning where to be careful, what functions not to use yet, and so on. 2. You have to be able and willing to dig into the source code. Using a precompiled version, I could not have worked on this project, as there where several things I stumbled upon that simply were not working for me, and that I had to have changed, obviously without waiting for a fix in the official svn version, if one were to happen at all. So I am using 1.3.5svn, but I'm using it with some changes applied, including changes in the hyphenator and the object placement algorithm, as well as additions to the scripter and the "Move Pages" dialog. I need these changes, because without them, Scribus did not do what I needed it to (this, btw, is a good time to raise our glasses with a loud "Viva OSS!"). Obviously, I will / have also report(ed) the changes I've made (not all of them should necessarily be considered bug fixes, sometimes I just wanted Scribus to behave differently). 3. You have to know your other tools to use as well as know a few things about the PDF standard itself. Scribus (in any version) is not -- nor ever will (or should!) -- be a one-for-all tool. One great improvement that entered the svn version a few months ago was the ability to embed exisiting PDF files into the newly created PDF. Having lots of advertisements, most of which I receive as PDF files, this possibility is invaluable. However, while Scribus-created PDFs can usually be trusted, I cannot trust every single PDF I receive in terms of standards conformance et cetera. Since Scribus "only" embeds these PDFs as XObjects, anything that is wrong with the one small PDF is now wrong with the whole document. Hence I use a combination of Adobe Reader (not free, I know -- except as in beer --, but still a very important tool), ghostscript, podofo, and possibly others, to end up with a flawless PDF. All these things considered, I can say that Scribus 1.3.5svn works very well in production. If, however, any of the three points I mentioned above do not apply to you, I strongly recommend *not* using 1.3.5 under critical conditions yet, but staying with the 1.3.3.x version (which is a great tool already, don't get me wrong on this!). What I really want to say, and let this be my conclusion, is the following: Scribus 1.3.5.x will be one heck of a great program, with so much improvment compared to 1.3.3.x that it might well be justifiable calling it 1.4 (or wherever the version numbers are going). The devs have done and are doing an excellent job, and it is the right decision not to rush towards a release, but to keep on working until 1.3.5 "is there". Thanks, people. Here's a last bit of mouth-watering for all of you who are eagerly waiting for this release: You will love it. Greetings, Ben
