[MATRIX-SIG] Revised proposal for PLOT-SIG

[David Ascher]

Here's a revised version of the PLOT-SIG proposal.  Please let me know (in
private if you wish) whether you find it appropriate and whether I should
submit it to the META-SIG for discussion.

I never did get a clear feeling for whether more folks felt like Konrad
that this should instead be an unofficial working group based on the
Starship instead of the Mothership (python.org).  Feel free to voice
opinions...

Just to get my bias out in the open -- I am more interested in the second
subproject described below, but will of course encourage work on
interfacing with existing packages, in part because I expect to have plots
to produce before the new framework is in place...  

Geoffrey (or others) -- if you wish to further specify the charter of what
I call the "API subproject", let me know.

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PLOT-SIG: Development of Data Plotting Solutions for Python

The purpose of this list is to develop, coddle together, adopt or
otherwise make available Python tools for plotting of scientific and
business plots of data.

Plotting needs vary greatly depending on each user's requirements.
Some users wish to see a better API between Python and existing
plotting libraries or programs.  Others would rather see a new
framework which maximally leverages the OOP and dynamic strengths of
Python, at the cost of reinventing a few wheels.  Both strategies will
be entertained by the SIG, with individual members contributing to
projects they wish to see furthered.

Principles guiding the development of all software will include:

  * Ease of use.
  * Clean Integration with relevant Python packages (NumPy, PIL, etc.).
  * Quality of the software.
  * Quality of the output.

One possible goal for the API subproject is to develop a package-
independent API for plots, which would produce reasonably similar results
regardless of the plotting package used as a backend (PLPlot, Gist/Yorick,
Gnuplot, etc.), in the same spirit as the interface defined by the DB-SIG. 
Package-specific extensions could naturally be provided as well. 

The goals for the new framework subproject need to be further specified by
the SIG, but include:

  * Complete Python Control.
  * Extensibility/Customizability.
  * High quality rendering both on screen and paper.
  * Portability (at least UNIX/X11 and Win32, MacOS if feasible). 
  * Stealing good ideas others have had.
  * Interactivity.


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