[afp-renderer-developers] Re: FOP AFP Renderer

[Joe S. <jo...@ex...>]

I've cc'd afp-renderer-developers to keep a public record of this
conversation. Manual, I have a few questions for you at the bottom of
this email, so read on...

On Mon, 28 November, 2005 11:27 pm, Pete Townsend wrote:
> Manuel Mall wrote:
>>Pete,
>>
>>as you may be aware the Apache FOP project has just released an alpha
>>version of the new code base.
>>
>>We have received some expressions of interest to make an AFP renderer
>>available for the new version of FOP. I have therefore taken the
>>liberty to use your FOP 0.20.5 AFP Renderer code as a basis for a
>>porting attempt to the new FOP code base. This project is still in its
>>infancy and nothing is working yet.

Excellent! I'm really pleased that you've taken the inititive on this
work. Pete and I are both fairly busy, and not yet familiar with the new
FOP architecture, so this project would take us a very long time.

It's interesting to hear that there is demand for the AFP Renderer to
become a core renderer.

>>The purpose of this e-mail is to firstly inform you of this activity
>>in the hope to avoid any duplication of work in case you or someone
>>else you are aware off has similar plans.
>>
>>Secondly, should the port be successful, we possibly would like to add
>>the AFP renderer into the main code base in the Apache FOP repository.
>>For us to be able to do so we would need your consent or more
>>specifically you (and any other significant contributors to the
>>SourceForge AFP Renderer) would need to officially donate the code to
>>the Apache Foundation. May be you could give this some thought and
>>advise us if such a course of action would be acceptable to you and
>>your co-contributors on the project.

It was always our intention for the AFP Renderer to become part of the
core FOP distribution. Here's my original blog entry on the subject:

  http://www.exubero.com/blog/20040924_AFP_Renderer.html

Pete and I have already assigned copyright ownership to the Apache
Software Foundation. You might have noted that the copyright notice at
the top of all the source files and at the bottom of all the web pages
mentions this. This was to ensure that the migration path you are
suggesting is possible. Is there anything else that needs to be done to
"officially" transfer copyright?

>>Please be rest assured that this is not an attempt to take the project
>>away from you or to exclude you from further activity. Quite the
>>opposite. The Apache FOP project is keen to get as many people
>>involved especially using the new code base. Should you be interested
>>in taking the lead in this porting activity or in contributing to it
>>please let us know.

As mentioned above, we are both happy that the AFP Renderer should
become part of core FOP.

Personally, I would be interested in helping, but I don't have the in
depth knowledge of either AFP or XSL-FO that Pete does, and my time is
also limited. But I can attempt a certain amount. Is there a developer
guide on the new FOP architecture? Migration instructions or the like?

>>I have copied this e-mail to Jeremias Maerki who is the chair of the
>>Apache XMLGraphics Project Management Committee under whose
>>jurisdiction FOP falls. This is to keep him informed as the Apache
>>Foundation is taking licencing issues very serious to make sure all
>>parties are protected in the long run.
>
> I have been checking the status periodically but wasn't aware of the
> alpha release, good to know it is progressing.
>
> I have no objection to you porting the code, and am happy to provide
> any assistance that you may require. I was the original developer
> however since moving the project to SourceForge I have received some
> very useful assistance from Joe Schmezter in creating the web pages,
> build scripts and bug fixing.
>
> I am also very keen to incorporate the renderer with official FOP
> build, so no problem donating the code - consider it done.
>
> In order to use the renderer it is necessary to have some AFP fonts. I
> managed to persuade a company to donate a very limited font set so
> that users could test the renderer - we will need to contact them to
> make sure that they are still happy (I'd assume they would be as it
> provides some free advertising and potentially gives them some sales
> potential for commercial fonts).

I would think that the bulk of FOP users would have no interest whatsoever
in having AFP Fonts as part of the install. For these people, the AFP
fonts are wasted space in the download. However, having the AFP fonts in
the distrubtion really lowers the bar for getting new users up and running
on the AFP renderer, so I think that there needs to be some sort of way to
demonstrate that the renderer works out of the box.

Currently, the Terrapin fonts we distribute make up about 600KB. Perhaps
this could be part of an optional install? Or possibly we could package up
two FOP builds - one with fonts, one without.

Now, back to administrivia...

Manual, how would you like to progress your porting activities? If you
like, we can give you commit access to the AFP Renderer CVS repository,
and you can commit your work on a branch there. Alternatively, do you want
to keep the port in the FOP repository?

Cheers,
Joe Schmetzer .:. Renaissance Developer .:. http://www.exubero.com/