KPI = Key Performance Indicators

Seven truths about trade

Beneath all the tariff craziness — the taxes on islands inhabited only by penguins, the pseudo-profound mathematical definition of “reciprocal”, the idea that the settled trade policy of every other country on the planet somehow constitutes an emergency, and enough U-turns to make a ballerina dizzy — it is easy to lose sight of a basic fact: even a modest and predictable tariff i

https://timharford.com/2025/05/seven-truths-about-trade/

#UndercoverEconomist

@Eetschrijver @ksaj @georgetakei

It's not that. I wish we'd stop calling them stupid. Because it's neither true, nor helpful.

What's happening to many people is that they get ideas, and then they seek to prove their ideas and fight off anyone who doesn't share those same ideas as a matter of tribe identity. Winning the ideas game.

They're on a mental ledge, pulling the world along with it. Pushing them further away is not helpful. Though it does instinctively feel like the thing to do.

@ernestsuyver @lps

Yeah, I see a network of tutorial makers and other such people bundling contributor status in their sales. It makes sense to build out that community, that worker-owned cooperative if you will.

But I would caution against education services being the main money earner. The money makes the incentives and being incentivised to make education is not the same as being incentivised to make good software.

@lps Yes, I've put a lot of time into making these pages for inkscape. The amount of hand holding for people who pop in and out of the project does drain the batteries though.

https://inkscape.org/contribute/

@lps The paid version on the windows store would require fixing the payment methods at the SFC I believe. Plus I think we''d have to be much more attentive to releasing on time there.

But this isn't actually enough. Not the money, I mean it's not enough of an idea to fit the whole of the community into it. I want our Linux users and macOS users to all be equally able to contribute their money, time and this parts really important: their needs.

Big ideas needed!

@homo_particeps

But "Inkscape Ass" is not something you want in your task bar... 😳 😆

@doctormo I like the idea. I’ll happily pay for Inkscape CE.

2/2

I'd also be interested in a network of tools. So if you pay for #Gimp or #Krita or #Blender but not Inkscape. Perhaps you can also have the community edition.

This edition does exactly the same thing by the way. There's never a difference in functionality. Just a marker that says you're doing the right thing.

Maybe a different splash screen. For fun.

The point is getting people into a relationship with the project so things can be maintained without suffering in silence.

I don't want to make an "#Inkscape Pro", it's divisive language.

But I am interested in the idea of an "Inkscape Community Edition" which unlike pseudo-oss doesn't mean "the free one", it means "the paid one". You HAVE to pay for the community edition. Or you can contribute your time to the project, you also get it then.

But this is because I'd like my users to understand their role and responsibility in maintaining the software they depend on. Without creating some judging people's art.

1/2

@doctroid @standupmaths

Cold Climate Pythonistas. Ssslithering ssslowly in sssolidarity. 😉

It’s finally happening! I will be at the European Spreadsheet Risks Interest Group annual conference! July 3,4 in London. See sum(you all) there. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/eusprig-2025-annual-conference-spreadsheet-productivity-and-risks-tickets-1219511143659

@sol_hsa

Not as easy as it should be. But we have a set of instructions https://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Compiling_Inkscape_on_Windows which I know have worked several times. But I also have heard people trip up on it too (which is a catch-22 of growing a community of a developers)

The main thing needed is patience. The it's a thousand objects and for some reason windows takes hours to build what on linux takes 10 mins.

Would any #windows #developer want to work on a funky #Gtk C++ bug?

The Inkscape project is empty of windows developers and needs some help fixing a fairly serious issue: https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/issues/5219

If I had a windows machine, I'd have tried to fix this one. But I'm completely at sea for this type of issue without the OS on hand. (don't try developing on a VM or old computer, Inkscape is too big and slow to build on windows for that)

#programming #CPP #GtmMM

@varx

"Wrist watch! Now with 3 radiums. Hour minute and seconds!"

I've completed my #ZenWork #project This old Japanese style screen was is rough shape and I've been taking my time slowly, dismantling them, re-glueing wood, and then paper, the reassembling them. Learning different techniques for each of the screens and how to use dilute wood glue.

I won't say I've "finally" finished. Because finishing wasn't really the point. The work itself was and now it's done I can think about something else to garden...

#woodworking #paper #diy #homeReMade

I wanted to understand how #DeviantArt 's horrible #ai system has consumed data on the word "Inkscape" by just feeding that as the prompt over and over again.

One in 30 actually made some sort of art program. The rest were keying in on various popular about screens and example svg images used in screenshots. Cameras, Sports cars, and a few actual mountains of various kinds. So, certainly stolen our community's works

All slop. Happy to have spent some of dA's money peeking into the garbage pile

It's not a Rick Roll, it's a good cover!
@doctormo now you can watch
Pink Pony Club (Chappell Roan Cover)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=2vF26QG9he4&si=4cq2WUAcVrjeBzLB

Oh as a computer nerd, the design of this year's crash course coin is so very tempting.

https://youtu.be/YkG_b02j3eo

@georgetakei

It's always best to not say "$5 trillion dollars", because this hard to grasp. It is the government so they are borrowing money on each citizens behalf.

Try:

The government plans to borrow $14,419 from YOU, another $14k from your spouse and $14k from each of your children in order to give Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos more to buy jets, yaughts, markets and elections.