Re: Re: Graphing in perl

[agentv]

...the support for GIF images in GD fell out of the module after the technology leaders at Unisys decided to invoke the rights of their (cr@&&y) patent on compression technology.

The entire incident was an embarrassment to the high-tech community where most of us know that public domain algorithms exist for compression that are superior to the method used in the GIF format.

PNG graphics are just fine for web use and they do offer some more sophisticated features (such as translucent color definitions) than the GIF format anyway.

Meanwhile the technology giants at Unisys are distracted currently from their jealous defense of their patent on obsolete technology while they team up with Microsoft to attempt to convince the world that Unix is expensive and inflexible technology.

Their latest ad campaign extols the virtues of the much more flexible Windows system that (according to its creator) still isn't flexible enough to disassociate middleware without breaking the whole thing.

I say that the folks who believe the newest marketing campaign by Microsoft and Unisys will get what they richly deserve. In the meantime, you could either use PNG images that you create with perl and GD, or you can try the ImageMagik modules which may still support GIF format. Or you can get an older version of GD for your system (CPAN still exposes the older GIF-inclusive version).

---v