Personal info for tobby
This person is currently certified at Apprentice level.Name: Tobby Banerjee
Notes: Dear Raph, I don't like doing this. Having benefitted immensely from Ghostscript and Gnu in general it doesn't feel right taking issue with someone who is part of the project. I have some time left before I finally acquire enough programming skills to make some positive contributions and I thought it best to keep my mouth shut till them. But reading your open letter to the development community I noticed a distinct shift in priorities and it appears to be in the wrong direction. For one the focus on a visual Ghostscript seems misplaced, not because its not neccessary but because it hardly merits attention - it is inevitable. Being the best RIP around would be ambition but competing with Acrobat reader, when Ghostscript already boasts Distiller capability seems to be a bit of a come down. People don't use Ghostscript because they want to view pdf's but because it does something far more important - print their documents accurately in the case of Linux the only way( like climbing Mount Everest the first attempt )and in the case of Windows the better way, a superior solution in the face of expensive competition - and gsview, ggv, gv and other previewers are capable. A better visual interface would be nice but accurate colours and better driver support in print would be infinitely more appreciated. Adobe has already entered the lower end RIP market, Birmy is preparing for the windfall, Ripping is where the action is for both users and Artifex software. Inkjets have improved by leaps and bounds and promise to get even better and with prices having simultenously hit rock bottom and threating to sink even furthur the proofing market is moving to the desktop and with it Artifex's rise in fortunes. The days of expensive solution are clearly numbered. Adobe will have to sooner or later reduce prices for their solutions and while they contemplate that Artifex can move in and make a killing and give previously sceptical 'connoseiurs of Postscript' something to think about. But for that to happen Ghostscript has to get its colour management and drivers in order. And here we come face to face to what ails Linux: confusion and duplication of effort. Building on present solutions is the avowed motto but what explains the presence of Gnome- print and gimp-print? Postscript is not only the industry standard but a bloody good PDL and it would seem sensible for apps to concentrate on outputting to postscript and to put all the effort in the next and important stage which is ripping, especially when we already have a decent and conrary to popular perception speedy solution in Ghostscript. The developers of Gnome print and Gimp print should ideally be concentrating on beefing up Ghostscript's capabilities,in colourcorrection, screening technology and inkjet drivers. There really is no reason for Gimp, an an individual application, to have a separate series of drivers,it is inefficienct and leads to confusion and I've just heard of CUSP. A more streamlined workflow with some central app taking caring of postscript generation for all apps and Ghostscript taking care of ripping and outputting to various devices elevates the linux printing solution to way above Windows, where users have to shell out big bucks to upgrade to postscript capability, with the native esc/p2 drivers more often than not paling in comparison - they are hardly the benchmark for Linux. This will obviously benefit the community and by providing better commercial solutions for plain and wide format inkjets ( which would naturally not be available in the free versions ) above say the stylus 900, Deskjet 930 and Bjc 6000 - it's unlikely anybody would use anything more powerful for personal printing - Artifex's revenue streams are secured. Only those who are acquainted with the printing and publishing world where commercial solutions don't cost hundreds of dollars but thousands of dollars can appreciate Ghostscripts value, and this can be the first step to establishing Linux as a viable platform for Desktop publishing - the impetus certainly is there and the printing subsystem would be in place. A prosperous and wildly succesful Artifex is in everyone's interests. Let's be the best RIP in the business. tobbyb@yahoo.com
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- raph certified tobby as Apprentice
- dbantegui certified tobby as Journeyer
- tschingsy certified tobby as Journeyer
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