Creating in the Cloud and Other Tales of Design Realidad
Here is the first pass at what I want to speak about at Libre Graphics Meeting 2009. It is a wake-up alarm to all making desktop applications. We need to be thinking about how our projects and data fit into the web-powered future. Whether or not we agree with the shift to the web is somewhat irrelevant if we want to stay relevant now into the future. As always, I’m stating this fast and early and hope to get some feedback in the comments or directly by editing the presentation proposal before I post the final up on the Libre Graphics Meeting 2009 proposal system I built:
Creating in the Cloud and Other Tales of Design Realidad
The trend towards web-based applications creates a question about the future of creativity on the web. With web projects like Aviary, Scribd and Slideshare, more people than ever have access to making and sharing creations. How do our beloved desktop applications such as Inkscape, Gimp, Scribus, Krita, and Blender fit into this new world wide web world order (NWWWWO)? How do our projects stay relevant in contemporary times as more users and technology move to use network services? How may we learn from the rapid development of web-based projects that don’t rely upon the ultra-long development cycles, arduous community learning curves and reliance upon cranky ingrained software development methodologies?
First, this presentation surveys the landscape of creative network services such as Aviary, DeviantArt, Scribd, and Docstoc. Then it investigates the the Free and Open Source Software (FLOSS) approach to on-line network services, Autonomo.us Free Network Services most commonly licensed with the GNU Affero GPL 3.0 software license. The Open Clip Art Library and Open Font Library communities are used as examples of pre-Free Network Services websites which can fit into the Autonomo.us Free Network Services definition.
This presentation is a call to arms for all FLOSS Graphics communities to think about how their applications integrate with the web, what pieces are missing, and how we can all collaborate on making a unlocked web-based graphics future.
Sounds interesting. I see the web (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) being a glue for some of these applications: GIMP and Inkscape in particular. Or building a webpage that is a “canvas” for bitmaps and vectors and both are editable almost in place by integrating with the desktop applications….
Comment by braydonf.myopenid.com/ — March 29, 2009 @ 5:57 am
Great start! It’d be good to see these applications have web interfaces, especially if they’re as open as the programs themselves
Comment by Antonio — March 29, 2009 @ 5:18 pm
Yes, completely. Sites like Aviary are doing some amazing things, and we can’t deny the collaborative aspects missing from our applications for ages. The tools have gotten so complex that we don’t even need 50% of the features.
Comment by jon — March 29, 2009 @ 9:04 pm
Have you seen this? http://www.azarask.in/blog/post/ubiquity-photo-editor/
Comment by Braydon Fuller — March 29, 2009 @ 10:57 pm
That is amazing how far ubiquity is getting pushed. This is a great idea however. What other services would you like to see for FLOSS graphics on the web?
Comment by jon — March 30, 2009 @ 11:31 am
‘Share photo captions’ or ‘Tag a photo’ (http://www.gwap.com/gwap/gamesPreview/espgame/):
ESP game is one in which people have to describe what they see in a picture and if two descriptions (given independently) match then they are correct.
Unfortunately it’s not free as in freedom, AFAIK. This idea seems to be first implemented by Luis von Ahn.
This is not an idea, but perhaps a discourse about where are we regarding creative sharing: http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/shirky08/shirky08_index.html
Again not an idea about graphic media, but it is interesting for the topic of sharing efforts: Michael Wesch runs a collaborative experiment with his students, they gather facts on a topic an share it in the class and with the world http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/
Comment by Bogdan Bivolaru — April 1, 2009 @ 9:50 am
1) ‘Share photo captions’ or ‘Tag a photo’ (http://www.gwap.com/gwap/gamesPreview/espgame/):
ESP game is one in which people have to describe what they see in a picture and if two descriptions (given independently) match then they are correct.
Unfortunately it’s not free as in freedom, AFAIK. This idea seems to be first implemented by Luis von Ahn.
2) This is not an idea, but perhaps a discourse about where are we regarding creative sharing: http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/shirky08/shirky08_index.html (Clay Shirky at Web 2.0 Expo 2008)
3) Again not an idea about graphic media, but it is interesting for the topic of sharing efforts: Michael Wesch runs a collaborative experiment with his students, they gather facts on a topic an share it in the class and with the world http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/
Comment by Bogdan Bivolaru — April 1, 2009 @ 9:53 am