GIF [partial] alternative : alpha + english version

[Thierry LARONDE <thierry.laronde@polynum.com>]

Hello,

We can do, without GIF, animations and we can generate images from within the JavaScript source file ( no need to send tons of requests).

The technique has been successfully tested with Navigator 3.0x, 4.0x
and 4.6, and with Internet Explorer 4.0.
This MAY work with Opera ( JavaScript 1.1 compatible) but this is untested.
This SHOULD work with Mozilla, but there are problems not related to the
library ( the generation of the images is done, but the document is a
mess - perhaps some difficulties with the DOM specifications implementation?).

ImaJin ( *Ima*ges generated with *J*avascript from with*in* the source file) provides the following features :
	- A Perl script that takes an xbm file format and generates a string to assign to a JavaScript variable ( with RLE basic compression);
	- The library ImaJin_0.5a :
		- Functions to generate the internal format;
		- Functions to draw a pixel, a vertical or horizontal line,
		to negativize an image, to rotate an image, to buttonize an
		image;
		- Function to generate the format to communicate to the browser:
	- Explanations in french and english;
	- Examples.

The licence is GPL.
This is an alpha version and was meant to be prototypage ( this actually 
works, and you can see the result running on my web site). This has been 95%
of "research", test, swearwords, and 5% coding.

This is open software so you are allowed to ... open your mouth : critics,
suggestions, improvements, questions ( but ...RTMF !), bug reports are welcome.

You can start by the explanations at the following URL :
http://www.polynum.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?/docs/bdi/langage/interprete/javascript/manuel/js_xbm.html

and you can download the stuff via ftp here :
ftp.polynum.com/pub/produits/ImaJin/ImaJin_0.5a-1.tar.gz

BTW, this is only an ( incomplete) first step.
I will introduce a new graphical format ( vectorial and multi-files), and
the xbm technique will be use for prototypage in black and white.

And for this format, I have had the following idea about a new licence : 
a new contaminating licence more "liberal".
The contamination is put in the highest level : the algorithms, the 
principles. 

"You can use these principles without any fee, even for commercial
work that is sold, even if you don't make the sources publicly available 
( but you MUST give the source code to your customers), even if you don't
allow derived work from your code, as long as the algorithms, principles,
formats, API ( etc...) used with these ones are made publicly available,
under a licence that CAN'T be more restrictive than this one."

Then, if in the country, patent are illegal, just send this one to /dev/null
( this is OK because this is what we want), and if the patent is legal, then
create new principles that in the future nobody can avoid to use : this is
an offensive licence, a patent boomerang one ( and when I speak about 
"new principles that nobody can avoid to use", I don't speak about my own
stuff :-) but there is, in the free software community, some great persons
that have undoubtly these capacities).

I call this licence DQM licence ( the logo already exists, do you know ?).

Just a thought ...

Best regs.

-- 
Thierry LARONDE
thierry.laronde@polynum.com
website : http://www.polynum.com

"unctuous : used about somebody who pretends to put balm on your wounds, when,
at the very time, by way of preliminaries, he's just oiling your arse."
	Adrien Herryolt, "Le glossaire des Précieuses"