Hello, first let me introduce myself. I'm Greg M. Johnson, a non-programmer, a fan of the Windows GUI version of POV-Ray, and a newbie to linux, and thereby a huge fan of Knoppix, Kanotix, and Debian. I don't speak for the POV-Team, but I've been in email conversation with them.

I note with interest that the Knoppix 4.0 DVD ships with KPovModeller, a GUI modelling interface for povray. It has a "render" command in it. If one tells KPovModeller (as shipped with 4.0 DVD) to "render", you get an error message because the knoppix team has not put a povray app on the DVD! I would note that there is a "povray modeller" on Paipix (3.6??) that does in fact implement a successful render.

My request is that you make it work for rendering.

Now here's where it gets tricky. There is a command-line, official unix/linux version of povray available at povray.org. I don't know exactly if it were "optimized" (non-programmer here) for Debian; I note that Paipix's povray is a special, non-POV-Team-supported compile which claims to be. I forget the gent who did it.


Now here's my wish list. I am one of those who is in love with the GUI for the text editing of the scene description files-- it works just like the GUI kedit, where you type out your code, 'cept you hit a "render" icon instead of "print" icon-- but I find a GUI for the actual modelling-- lots of click and drag with the mouse-- to be quite annoying. Povray's benefits, in this overly opinionated user's opinion, come in the flexibility of its scene description language, not in the clicking and dragging of spheres around the screen. At the same time, my opinion is also that I hate the official linux version's command-line, non-GUI-ness as it requires typing out 40-character commands to render: ala'
Code:
 povray.exe inputfile.pov +i +320 -h +aa3.0 +janegetmeoffthiscrazything...
So my "idea" is that you instead use QTPOV instead of (or in addition to) KPovmodeller, with whatever povray compile works under Debian: I dunno if that were "the official" or the one chosen by Paipix (I'm not on POV-Team, not a programmer, and not associated with either QTPOV development team or that of KPovmodeller). Maybe even also find a way to make povray's non-GUI command line version be somehow "noticeable" off the main "K" menu (note nonetheless another annoying feature of command-line apps).

I think QTPOV ain't availabe free for Windows, but it might be for Linux. Povray, per se, is not GPL but "copyrighted freeware" but a member of the POV-Team has stated that its license would make it available for something like Knoppix.


In any case, DVD 4.0 is shipping an app that would appear to some users as broken. I've given my opinions on how I wish it could be fixed. Thanks greatly. I am greatly enamored with your product.[/code]