Re: RFC: require librsvg to implement SVG image support

[Jonas Hahnfeld]

On Sun, 2023-01-15 at 00:45 -0800, Aaron Hill wrote:
> On 2023-01-14 7:45 am, Jonas Hahnfeld via Discussions on LilyPond 
> development wrote:
> > I strongly believe that we must figure this out *now*, before deciding
> > to go that route. Relatedly, I also think it was a mistake to ask the
> > users at this stage - they cannot assess the technical difficulties of
> > making either solution happen.
> 
> Yes and no.  My apologies for posting disagreement here.
> 
> It is not really relevant whether users can or cannot assess technical 
> difficulties.  Some of us who use LilyPond do have software engineering 
> experience, so we might be well-equipped (albeit perhaps not 
> well-motivated) to consider technical matters.
> 
> But the important thing is that users *are* able to express what they 
> need from LilyPond.  Jean's post on the list was merely an ask for what 
> vector format(s) could be useful.  (I think SVG "won", if it matters.)

(which is surprising and my interpretation is that the question was
phrased wrongly: Currently, the only format for the inclusion of vector
graphics is EPS. I just tested this with the Debian logo, and
conversion to SVG with Imagemagick produces a black-and-white image.
Conversion to PDF on the other hand is as easy as "ps2pdf -dEPSCrop"
and hugely battle-tested with Ghostscript. Conversion to SVG actually
seems to work with Inkscape, but requires the use of a graphical
interface (or I haven't found the full batch options yet), and
internally seems to use Ghostscript, so it's actually two conversions
instead of one. My conclusion is that PDF is the more "logical"
successor to the inclusion of EPS.)

> It then falls to the development team to make this request a reality 
> within the limits of their abilities and time and factoring in any 
> technical roadblocks.

And this is exactly what scares me: I don't think we should go to all
lengths here in order to fulfill a user poll.

Jonas

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