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Tim Courtney wrote:
>
> Whatever website in the future maintains the official LCAD standards, committee,
> updates, etc should, IMO, seek to centralize the LCAD resources - with whatever
> label we put on it. If we move to an 'l-cad.org' in the future, then
> www.ldraw.org will just point there, IMO.
I agree with that because currently ldraw.org is working as l-cad.org,
but l-cad.org will have to focus on other stuff as well.
> Yes. The FAQ should be reformatted soon (a couple months) to the new look, and
> revised. But apart from the FAQ, there are currently resources being written
> and transposed for various parts of LCAD to be included on LDraw.org. There
> should be a Help section with common problems and solutions so that people don't
> have to email one of us or post to the group to get their problem solved - its
> available right there for them on the web.
I think it would be better to have the FAQ split, there should be a
smaller FAQ with only questions that general users ask (how can I save a
.bmp ?) and another with more advanced questions (how to make a type 5
line ?). A very long FAQ scares people away.
> > I don't have any experience writing databases for web pages but if
> > nobody else volunteers to do it, I can try to make some perl scripts to
> > take care of the parts.
>
> We'll see, then. Why not talk to Steve Bliss about that?
I think he's reading the messages... Steve, what do you think about my
idea for the voting procedure ? Do you want to make the voting more
integrated with the parts tracker ? I can help with that.
> Yep, this sounds like a good idea. Tore has told me that if we can have an
> automated tracker online, he would prefer to have his hands free of it. The
> sooner we get that done, the sooner some of those integrating features we're
> talking about can be implemented, and the sooner he can be free of the
> responsibility.
So what resources do we have right now ? Does anyone have a web server
that allows perl scripts (or any other form of scripts/database) ?
I've been a bit busy at work but soon I won't have much to do and I'll
be able to help more. I'll be free until the end of january when I'll
(probably) move.
> > It's all a matter of deciding the standards we're going to use and
> > having a place to keep the parts. LeoCAD does something like this, it
> > checks www.leocad.org/update.txt and tells the user if there's a new
> > version of the program or library available (but doesn't download and
> > install).
>
> Good idea! It would be nice this built into more editors, or have an LCAD
> Manager application which would interface with the website and tell the user
> what is new for download.
I've been thinking about making individual files available and I think
that having a cvs server would fit all of our needs. If you don't know
what cvs is, it's a version control system used very much under Linux
but it also has a nice GUI for win32 users (www.wincvs.org). All you
have to do is type "cvs update" and it will update your local copy from
a remote repository.
If we plan to make applications available then the above method is not
a good idea but I can write a program like that for win32. At work
there's some people making a program like that to download patches to
our games (we're using it on the Tribes 2 beta) but unfortunately it's
going to be only available for linux.
> I'll have to play with it some, and with finals week and a couple meetings
> before flying home, it won't happen until break. I'll have to remember to give
> it some time - especially before going to Steve's next Wednesday. We could talk
> about it there easier if I knew more about it then.
No problem, today I uploaded a new version so you might want to
download it. Don't forget to take a look at the new minifig wizard. :)
> Personally I would like to see parts authors get together with some editor
> programmers such as you and Michael Lachmann (and others) and develop a new
> parts standard, where Artemis-esque features can be included, and then develop a
> single editor off of that. The age-old phrase 'two heads are better than one.'
I'd like to see something like that happening too but all times we
tried to add new standards it was too confusing (remember the long BFC
threads). Having a completely new format will be 100 times more
difficult.
> > If we decide to really use it (see first paragraph) and someone has a
> > server to host it, then I can grab it. When I registered leocad.org I
> > payed $17/year, is there any place cheaper ?
>
> I haven't heard of anything cheaper, but I would like to know where you
> registered that. I just paid another $70 for two more years of zacktron.com :-(
I'm using www.domainmonger.com
> I would say that for now we should sit on the domain and wait until at least the
> second quarter of 2001 to start developing. I want to get a bit more organized
> before starting a new project from scratch - this includes organizing and
> generating resources for LCad (tutorials, documentation, web applications), and
> then promoting LCad (which I have been semi-active in doing in the educational
> sector - details to follow when I can provide them). An LCAD strategy should be
> developed before developing a new official site. Until we have a clear 'battle
> plan' lets stick to what is there now and make it better.
You mentioned the educational sector: I started the license thread
bacause I wanted to have LeoCAD include in Debian-Jr, that's a Linux
distribution aimed at children.
Out of curiosity, do you also receive email from CS students having to
write a CAD program ? I get one of those every once in a while. :)
> As far as an organization goes - whether we are going to stick with something
> like 'LDraw.org Committee/Group/etc.' or go to 'LCAD Committee/etc' should be
> decided. If a 'formal' or 'official' organization is to be formed, it should
> be, and from there strategy should be developed for the future of LCAD. Within
> that strategy may or may not include a new LCAD website to replace the name
> 'LDraw.org' as the official site.
I think the first step should then be ask who wants to participate in
such group and start working. We can continue discussing here or move it
somewhere else (I saw the XP to lugnet.cad.dev.org.ldraw, is the
discussion moving there ? I'm not subscribed).
The first thing we could decide is about the new parts tracker and how
to integrate it with the voting procedure.
> Within these strategy discussions, it should be decided (once an official group
> is formed) how to handle LDraw and the memory of James within the organization
> and in public documentation (whether it be web, print, multimedia, etc). James
> is an important part of the LCAD legacy and deserves credit, but we should be
> careful not to _over- or under-emphasize_ his memory.
>
> LCAD should never eject the name LDraw, but the name 'LDraw' itself does not
> include all of LCAD by nature. Its true as has been noted that LDraw proper is
> archaic and fast being replaced by new software, and LCAD as a [loose]
> organization needs to face that.
I agree completely, the first advanced LCAD program was LDraw and we
should always respect it but we need to know when to move to a more
advanced program. Whatever we do, we should have a "history of LCAD"
page with a good explanation of how it all started.
Leonardo
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