Open-source: Presentation software

[Mark Talluto]

On Jan 6, 2005, at 11:32 AM, Gordon Webster wrote:

> Mark
>
> I checked out your Yahoo groups page - the project
> sounds potentially interesting but it's hard to know
> how interesting in the absence of more info.
>


Hi Gordon,

I am very new at working in an open-source project.  Ask me what you 
want to know and I'll tell you what I can.  I am probably missing all 
the key marketing phrases to excite the senses.  It really is pretty 
simple though.  I am no longer selling my commercial presentation 
software called Multimedia Generator.  I have decided to open up the 
code to those that are interested in improving it.  Some of you might 
just want to download it and use it for your own use.  Others might 
have a bent on making it one of the best alternatives to Keynote or 
Powerpoint.

My intended user base was educators.  They did not want a huge product 
that could do everything under the sun.  Most just wanted to import 
pictures of their students for end of the year presentations.  Others 
used it as a HyperStudio replacement when they switched to OS X.

It has become difficult to compete with the big guys and their 
offerings.  Price and simplicity are its key features.

It is lacking in certain areas.  It could really use a visual 
representation of each slide as an example.

Beginners may like taking it apart and seeing how things work.  As I 
look at it years later, I shake my head and ask "What was I thinking?"  
As we grow in skill, we find that there is always more than one way to 
do a task.  It seems that my early years chose some pretty strange yet 
effective methods.  The good part is that it is commented pretty well.

I am working on putting in the license on the about screen.  I just 
gutted the registration code so that anyone can use it.  I'll post the 
stack on the yahoo group in about 20 minutes.


-- 
Best regards,
Mark Talluto
http://www.canelasoftware.com