On 07 Dec 2002 00:06:50 -0600
Joseph A Nagy Jr wrote:

I did a clean install of RH 8.0 and during the install process, I had GIMP installed. I re-downloaded the FireAnim script and gradient, placed in the proper director and everything. I THINK the problem is that there is no plug-in for use of the GIF format, and since none of the other image formats support animation, the FireAnim is disabled. Would someone be so kind as to stick up their GIF plug-in for Linux? I've looked on the Gimp website for it as a seperate download, but I can't find it. I'd remove the RPM install of GIMP and just do a clean install from source but atm I don't have the appropriate libraries to do so (and it will take me at most four hours of monkeying with my computer for me to be able to do so). TIA (btw, the animated gif is for a non-commecrcial site).

On 07 Dec 2002 01:13:03 -0600
Joseph A Nagy Jr wrote:

On Sat, 2002-12-07 at 00:41, Nigel Ridley wrote:

On 07 Dec 2002 00:06:50 -0600
Joseph A Nagy Jr wrote:

Hi,

Are you sure you want to use gifs? I also thought about it for my 'non-profit' website and wrote to Unisys to ask about a license - their answer? $10,000 per year and 1% of all products sold on my website (I did inform them that I wasn't selling anything!). So I switched everything to png's.

Have a look at: http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/burn_all_gifs.htm and, if you want animated graphics:
http://www.libmng.com/

RedHat crippled Xmms (media player) in 8.0, also because of patent problems - so that is why they probably don't include the 'gif' plugin in their Gimp RPM's.

Nigel Ridley.

Unfortunately PNG's don't support animation.

No but MNG does.

Yeah, I know they did. So I promptly went to XMMS's website and downloaded the RPM that would add in the MP3 decoder (it's only the encoder's that the patent holders want), and I read at http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html:

"Unisys does not require licensing, or fees to be paid, for non-commercial, non-profit GIF-based applications, including those for use on the on-line services. Concerning developers of software for the Internet network, the same principle applies. Unisys will not pursue previous inadvertent infringement by developers producing versions of software products for the Internet prior to 1995. The company does not require licensing, or fees to be paid for non-commercial, non-profit offerings on the Internet, including "Freeware"."

The email reply that I got from Unisys informed me that I needn't pay the license fee so long as the gif was created with an app that HAD paid the license fee - such as PaintShop. Unfortunately The Gimp doesn't have a license and so the problem. They were adamant that if I manipulated or created gif's using The Gimp that I would need to purchase a license. That was only 2 months ago!!

I guess they changed it. *shrugs* Either way, I need the animation ability (unless there is now a MNG plugin (basically an animated PNG form what I understand) for GIMP) of a GIF (I'm trying to make a logo similar to what I have at http://jan-jr-ent.homelinux.org except WAY smaller (only like 100x50 pixels)).

If your really desperated and don't mind using something other than The Gimp (don't know about a plugin for MNG's) then ImageMagic will convert most animated gif's.