Inkscape Hackfest Kiel 2018 - What Happened?

Giovedì 20 Settembre 2018 14:16

This year's Kiel Hackfest was one of the best yet, thanks in no small part to Maren Hachmann, who is coordinator for Inkscape's website translation team. The following is a summary of what went on at the Hackfest...

Facilities and Amenities

Hosted at the Kitz (www.kitz-kiel.de), our team were treated to a conference room full of snacks, including hand-picked apples, wifi, and high-speed LAN ethernet connections, as well as a multitude of outlets and a delivery lunch service. This allowed hackfest attendees to set up quickly and get right to it without any problems. Espresso machine and recyclable pods were provided by C.Rogers, as a convenient source of hackfest fuel for those hackers keen on the bean.

What Happened at the Hackfest?

The team worked on a variety of issues, here's a breakdown:

• Extensions Repository

  Martin (doctormo) fixed some bugs in and answered questions on the new Extensions repository and moved it to a sub-module. Jürgen Weigert began research into API options for better connecting extensions in Inkscape as well as lots of cleanup and learning about signals.

• Layers/Objects/CSS Selectors Dialogue Design

  The whole team talked about how the Layers/Objects/Selectors Dialogue can be made simpler. A tabbed solution was developed and is being fleshed out by doctormo.

• XML Editor Refactoring

  doctormo worked heavily on refactoring the XML Editor.

• Using Inkscape for CAD and 3D printing - Inkscape Mocha!

  Jürgen Weigert fixed issues and merged patches for his paths2openscad (3D printer stuff) extension. This was used to print the first-ever Inkscape mocha with some product design collaboration from C.Rogers.

• Centerline tracing - first steps for inclusion in Inkscape

  Jürgen Weigert assisted Marc (Mc) with the first steps for including a centerline tracer in Inkscape. There is no graphical user interface for it yet.

• Inkscape for making things (CNC)

  Jürgen Weigert gave a presentation & workshop on various ways to use Inkscape for the creation of physical items with 3D printers, laser plotters and other CNC machines. Slides here: https://oc.fablab-nuernberg.de/index.php/s/yYNM8IQs7YHCahj.

• External SVG linking with real-time changeable resolution

  Jabier has made it possible to link in external svg files and set the DPI in which the item appears on canvas (and in exported PDFs/PNGs).

• Bug fixes for the new LPEs clippath, powerclip, and powermask

  Jabier fixed a bug in the LPE system that rendered clippaths incorrectly.

• Windows Inkscape build fixes

  Patrick Storz fixed a scrolling and zooming bug in the Windows version of Inkscape.

• Smooth scrolling and zooming enhancements

  Patrick Storz added smooth scrolling capabilities (i.e. on supported hardware there is now continuous scrolling and zooming without discrete steps).

• Inkscape CI for translation files and translation statistics

  Patrick Storz worked on generating up-to-date translation files automatically and did some preliminary work on preparing the bundled documentation for the 1.0 release.

• Performance improvements

  Marc spent a great deal of time investigating causes of Inkscape's slow performance during ungrouping and other actions, and achieved some considerable improvements in this area.

• Inkscape Extension System

  Extensions were a major topic of the hackfest, and were worked on by everyone in various ways after a group discussion (video coming soon). On day zero of the extension API 1.0, Patrick Storz adjusted the Scour extension (Optimized SVG output) to be compatible with the new API and wrote his first extension test to ensure it stays that way! Thomas Holder worked on the extensions repository to get most tests passing.

• Hackfest maintainance

  Maren did a superb job running around to make sure everyone had what they needed to be able to work on Inkscape without needing to worry about the rest. This included things like shopping for food, making arrangements with the Kitz, plucking apples, baking pretzels, dealing out keys and access chips, translating menus (food), buying tickets, watching weather forecasts and answering text messages. She also took care of a couple of external visitors to the hackfest and on Wednesday, she herded the Inkscapers through Kiel, to the computer museum and back. So much work! Thanks again Maren!

• Inkscape documentation

  Along with making the Hackfest run smoothly, Maren did a bunch of work on the documentation for the 1.0 release as well.

• Daily summaries of the Hackfest

  Posted by Maren in the Inkscape forums.

• SVG Text GUI enhancements

  Tav has made it possible to wrap a one-line text object with an adjustable handle. This greatly simplifies text handling and has the added advantage of having no hidden overflow like textboxes do, which solves a variety of other problems. He also worked on converting SVG 2 text to SVG 1.1 text for SVG export and back.

• A fix for Inkscape's coordinate issues

  Thomas Holder merged his changes and fixed remaining bugs for the y-axis desktop coordinate to match a top-down coordinate system expected by most professional users (and most other graphics applications), fixing a persistent sore-spot for Inkscape adoption.

• Inkscape Hackfest Video (still being worked on)

  C.Rogers ran around and captured video to assemble a hackfest video, and capture some of the conversations. He also created some animations for the intro/outro and videos will be available soon!

Extra-Hackfest Activities

After hours group activities are key to a successful hackfest. While some of our developers were keen to work into the wee hours of the morning, we were able to get everyone out for a few official, and some unofficial group activities.

• Hackfest Dinner

   

  Maren booked us in at the eclectic TraumGmbH Restaurant, where the crew was served a variety of excellent pizza, pasta, beer, and a variety of visually stunning and tasty desserts.

  

  

• A Guided Tour of Kiel

  Our local guide Maren prepared a walking tour of Kiel from the central train station through over the bridge (featured in the hackfest sticker), and to a variety of local landmarks, explaining the history of Kiel, past, present and plans for the future of the city.

  

• The Computer Museum

  Maren's tour took us to a ferry terminal, where we took a short cruise across the bay to the Computer History Museum. There some of our team were able to reconnect with pieces of their own history, and others able to witness first-hand the original computer systems which started the technological revolution, and the first graphical vector computer systems.

  

• The Kitz Barbecue

  Burgers, bratwurst and OpenSUSE beer were favourites at the bbq. Food was served up hot, and just the treat for the rainy weather.

  

• Pizza @ POI

  Several self-funded outtings to local establishments including the POI authentic Italian Pizza restaurant.

That Hackfest Vibe

The entire team gave glowing commendations to the event (and each other), and the vibe was pleasantly motivating with new participants commenting that the event had increased their sense of connection to the project, the community and boosted motivation to work on Inkscape after the event.

Post-Hackfest Activities

Video processing as well as some work started during the hackfest are ongoing even now. Stay tuned for the latest news from our dedicated team, and a possible Inkscape Podcast with interviews and discussions about the project.

Thank you!

We'd like to use the last section of this article to thank the Kitz for hosting us, and so generously sharing their resources with us Inkscapers. And we we want to thank you, our users and supporters, for playing a huge role in making this hackfest possible. Your donations helped get Inkscape developers to Kiel, and to be able to concentrate on working on Inkscape during the hackfest!

If you would like to support us in organizing future Inkscape hackfests, please donate here. So, until the next hackfest! Happy hacking!