Xara keeps promise, first GPL'd source code release for Xara LX

A new website outlines details how to retrieve the GPL'd (!) sources. It even looks like they'll grant write access (!) to their subversion repository for externals. You can quickly and easily testdrive Xara LX via the klik webservice -- and you'll see it already looks very neat. klik offers 2 different recipes: one for klik://xara (build rev. 676) and the other one for klik://xara-latest (build rev. 689). While both builds are unreleased development versions, Xara recommends the 676 build for more stability, and the 689 one for more "bleeding edge" like features. The klik Team strifes to update the xara-latest recipe daily to the new builds from Xara.

[Off-topic: klik in this case is useful for everybody who...

• ...does not want to compile Xara on his own, or...
• ...does not want to install Xara binaries into the very heart of his Linux system, or...
• ...run a distro where no native Xara packages are available.

klik does not "install" in the traditional sense; klik uses recipes to let the klik clients create self-contained *.cmg bundles (similar to what Mac OS X uses in the shape of *.dmg AppDirs). These .cmg files may even be can run directly from a CD-RW medium without any installation. After use, just delete the one .cmg file and your system is as it was before. Or keep it if you like... BTW, a klik FAQ explains all you may ever need to successfully run and understand kliks.]

For a first impression about Xara's power just open and play with the included demo files. You can find them at /tmp/app/[number]/usr/bin/Design/ (while xara runs via klik). -- Provocative question: Do LXer readers think that Xara could any time soon be displacing or assimilatingInkscape as the leading FOSS vector graphics creation tool?

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