[SGVLUG] Diagramming software

[Tom Emerson]

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Michael B. Parker wrote:
> I know it's Windows, but latest (2003) MS Visio
> (http://office.microsoft.com/visio) is pretty impressive.

> Maybe Visio could run in some ... Windows compatibility program as www.WineHQ.Com .

crossover office, perhaps?  [I think this is a version of wine tailored
to the MS suite of office products; yes, you have to buy it, but the
price is reasonable for individuals]

> Anyway, I'd be curious what, if any, native Linux programs are
> compatible, and be surprised if any could match it.

Presumably, "the" direct Linux equivalent of "Visio" is "Kivio" --
marketed by a former colleague of mine, (the Kompany) but also available
as part of koffice.  This is an interesting case re the GPL -- as the
original authors, they offer it under two variations: Kivio for KOffice
and Kivio MP; the KDE/Koffice version is GPL, while they have their own
"restricted source license" for the MP (multi-platform) version
[basically, they will give you the source and the right to modify it,
but they do NOT grant the right to redistribute it nor defeat the
license verification process or remove/alter trademarks and logos]  I'd
submit that this sort of license is an "on your honor" sort of deal as,
frankly, I don't see any way for them to enforce the provisions.  OTOH,
If/when "the Kompany" goes the way of the wind, you would at least have
the source code...

Some clarification from the Kompany's webpage:

     "Kivio for KOffice was originally released in October 2000 and
added to the KDE/KOffice project in January 2001, we saw the 1.0 release
of that in April 2001. Kivio is a Visio (tm) style of application that
allows you to easily create diagrams and charts by using a large library
of pre-defined "stencils" cover a wide range of topics, you can see the
complete list of available stencils here. When we donated the Kivio
application to KOffice, we also included our Basic Flowcharting stencil,
but you can purchase additional stencils at a cost of between $5 and $10
each to get what you need. Keep in mind that this version of Kivio is
typically pre-loaded on any Linux distribution, but also only runs on
Linux under KDE.

A common question is "What is the difference between Kivio for KOffice
and Kivio mp. Well, we had a tremendous amount of interest in Kivio, but
also a lot of requests for it on other platforms like Windows and Mac OS
X, so we took the opportunity to rewrite the application as a Qt
application, redo the core engine so that it also supported generic
vector drawing system like Corel Draw. In addition our new engine
allowed us to add a lot of features that are not available in the
KOffice version, but the distribution model is virtually the same..."

Note also that "Kivio MP" appears under the PRODUCTS tab, while "Kivio"
alone (the Koffice version) appears under PROJECTS.

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