[Numpy-discussion] LLNL distribution? (fwd)

[Thomas Shepard]

>Hi Thomas;
>
>I read with interest your message about Gist.  I've been using it with
>Python on an SGI and a Linux box.  Do packages like Ezplot, etc, run on the
>Macintosh?
>

I think the answer to that is no, unless there is a version of Ezplot
I don't know about, which is quite possible. Gist provides all the
functionality available in Ezplot and, in my opinion, is easier to
use than Ezplot (although Ezplot is not difficult either).

There are publicly available Yorick versions that run on windows and
macs which use Gist with the corresponding graphics engines. I don't
know if anyone has made python modules using the windows or mac versions
of the Gist graphics engines. If not, I don't think it would be
very hard to do.

I wonder if the upcoming mac OS X will support Xlib. Does anybody know?


PS: Another great feature of Gist I forgot to mention:

It produces great-looking publication-quality output directly.
The choice of things like tick marks, line thicknesses, fonts,
etc. (which is quasi-infinitely customizable) that Gist makes
is very good.

In contrast, things that other packages I have used do:

Use the thinnest possible lines for everything, presumably because
they think someone is going to scale data off the plot using a ruler
and need to keep it precise. This results in thin lines that don't
reproduce well.

Insist on writing unrequested text to the plots (think "core dump").

Write some text on top of other text.

Thomas D. Shepard
LLNL A Division
tdshepard at llnl.gov
925 423 4018
b111 r627
L-31