Hello all,

I'm working on a master wiki page and some subpages to address preferred file formats, fonts, images, templates and related issues. We already have some of this in the wiki (ie, maemo.org logo) but it needs to be expanded IMO.

Currently I'm working on file formats (along with recommended applications) and could use some help. The table below shows what I have so far:

EDIT: the forum software whacked the table. Now on Google Docs: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddhbh8xg_0gd82vqcq

Editable: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AQ...ODJ2cWNx&hl=en

I'm creating this on the fly and have some of the answers I need already (and filling them in now) but community input is welcome. I have also floated this on the community email list.

Obviously the goal is to go for open standards supported by richly-featured software. (Maemo column added).

If you edit the table, please color your added or changed text. I am maintaining a master file on my desktop and will update it with additions/changes.

Thanks!

No input eh? Ok, I'll make all the decisions myself.

FYI, table has been (slowly) updated. Gotta say that even though Scribus got a lot of nods as a desktop publishing tool, I don't really care for it. Very awkward to use IMO. I couldn't even drag-and-drop graphics from a file browser...

What do you mean with 'Unix' and 'Linux' ?

.odf changed to .odt
added some more values but cant keep the nice layout with online editing

Can we utilise something other than open office? I know it's popular but to be honest the Java overhead means I can't use it on some machines.

I don't understand your question chemist. Unix and Linux seem to have enough differences to warrant separate columns.

As to Fargus: this is open to suggestion! I've been testing apps as I ad them so it's a slooow process for one person...

TXT: Can we standardise on UTF-8 to avoid encoding/conversion issues?

MP3: A licence is required for generating these in many places. Let's stick with Free formats: ogg vorbis for general media, speex for speech and FLAC for cases where lossless encoding is absolutely required.

How about Abiword?

Thanks for the comments Ima and Fargus.

This process is slow for me because I'm testing the applications. If anyone has significant experience in certain areas I will trust their judgment and we can make this quicker and less painful (for me anyway).

One thing to note: I personally don't want to clutter a final table up with numerous options. The goal here is to standardize where it makes sense and offer preferred solutions, not every solution. So a messy table is okay while we hash this out but ultimately I think we should only show alternatives in extreme cases.

File formats is the main goal here, but applications are important since the right choices can minimize overall aggravation.

I agree with the comment about UTF-8, and understand the concern about mp3. I was reluctant to put it in there due to the codec issue and we can always pull it out.

Maybe I can run polls after this building process to narrow the selections.

@TexRat, with all the effort you are putting into the standards we are also going to need to spend some time providing a little bit on installing and/or configuring packages for noobs too I think.
Documentation is something that less technically aware users love to contribute but may have a stumbling block at the outset. Helping new starters is exactly the sort of thing this forum has a reputation for.

Hi Fargus,

Do you have any suggestions for (say) the Downloads page on maemo.org or the Extras page in the wiki that might help?

The front page of the wiki links (among other things) to "Downloading applications" and Extras, but I'm sure there's room for improvement. One of the remarks I'd make is that the new user who lands on the wiki front page is almost spoiled for choice now between several similar-sounding options.

Do you have any suggestions for improving things?

Dave.