Sodipodi Explained

Sodipodi is a free and open-source vector graphics editor, superseded since 2003 by Inkscape, an independent Sodipodi fork.

Development

Sodipodi started as a fork of Gill (abbreviated from "GNOME" and "illustration"),^[1] a vector-graphics program written by Raph Levien. The main author is,^{[2] [3]} a son of the famous Estonian writer and poet Jaan Kaplinski,^[4] and later there was several other people contributed to the project.

Sodipodi means "mish mash" or "hodgepodge" in Estonian child-speak.^[5]

The primary design goal of Sodipodi was to produce a usable vector graphics editor, and a drawing tool for artists. Although it used SVG as its native file format (including some extensions to hold metadata), it was not intended to be a full implementation of the SVG standard. Sodipodi imports and exports plain SVG data, and can also export raster graphics in PNG format. The user interface of Sodipodi is a Controlled Single Document Interface (CSDI) similar to GIMP.

Sodipodi was developed for Linux and Microsoft Windows. The last stable version is 0.34 released on February 11th 2004. Released under the GNU General Public License, Sodipodi is free software.

Even though there are no new releases since 2004,^[6] Lauris Kaplinski continued development of Sodipodi for years in a minor way, mostly contributing code refactoring and bug fixes. The latest commit for the trunk branch was pushed on September 12th 2023.^[7]

Derivatives

Sodipodi started a collection of SVG clip art containing symbols and flags from around the world.^[8] This work helped inspire the Open Clip Art Library.^[9]

In 2003 a group of Sodipodi developers decided to improve Sodipodi with different goals, including redesigning the interface and closer compliance with the SVG standard.^[10] Initial idea was to create separate Sodipody Hydra (hydra-oct) branch,^[11] planned to be merged into trunk, but as it was difficult to make such a merge developers later decided to create an independent fork and named it Inkscape.^[12]

See also

• Comparison of vector graphics editors
• Skencil
• Xara Xtreme LX

External links

• Official site (discontinued).
• Interview with Lauris Kaplinski
• Working version for Windows 7 and Windows 10

Notes and References

1. Web site: SVG in Gnome . Levien.com . 2012-07-23.
2. Web site: Kaplinski . Lauris . Lauris Kaplinski . https://web.archive.org/web/20040421011404/http://lauris.kaplinski.com/ . 2004-04-21 . lauris.kaplinski.com . I have worked for several (mostly gnome-related) software projects, the main one being vector drawing program Sodipodi, whose principal author and project leader I am..
3. Web site: Lauris Kaplinski CV, ETIS . 2023-11-21 . www.etis.ee.
4. Verenich . Vadim . 2013 . The Case of Lauris Kaplinski: A Guide to a Semiotic Reading of Incitement of Hatred in Modern Criminal Justice . Signs and Society . en . 1 . 2 . 213–241 . 10.1086/671817 . 154526430 . 2326-4489.
5. Web site: Linux.com Interviews Lauris Kaplinski — 3/3 . Linux.omnipotent.net . 2012-07-23 . 2021-12-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211206070840/http://linux.omnipotent.net/article.php?article_id=12529&page=3 . dead .
6. Web site: Sodipodi project management . 2015-12-09 . SourceForge.
7. Web site: Sodipodi / Code / Browse Commits . 2023-11-21 . sourceforge.net.
8. Web site: Sodipodi: Clipart . https://web.archive.org/web/20070909013631/http://www.sodipodi.com/index.php3?section=clipart . 2007-09-09 . sodipodi.com.
9. Web site: OpenClipArt . OpenClipArt . 2012-07-23 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110926210522/http://www.openclipart.org/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ&oldid=23855#What_inspired_this_project.3F . 2011-09-26 .
10. Web site: SodiPodi — Inkscape Wiki . Wiki.inkscape.org . 2010-01-06 . 2012-07-23.
11. Web site: Sodipodi Hydra - Inkscape Wiki . 2023-11-21 . wiki.inkscape.org.
12. Web site: Announcement to Sodipodi - Inkscape Wiki . 2023-11-21 . wiki.inkscape.org.