Sunday, August 3, 2008

Unsung Hero


Over the past several weeks I have introduced several people to Dia, and all of them were astounded and wondered why they had never heard of this program before - so here it is.

Dia is a diagramming program for Linux (has a windos port as well) that performs all of the basic functions of Visio(tm); Depending on one's skill, very complicated diagrams of any process can be created in this program and saved and/or exported to a variety of formats, including .png, .gif, and and a visio compatable format.

Dia has an extensive library of templates and the ability to import images. If you are a python wizard, you can create new extentions. Etc.

My main reason for using Dia is to communicate with non-technical co-workers. Many times a diagram can communicate technical problems in a manner that the non-technical can understand. It provides a common reference that does not have to rely on technical jargon.

There are other diagram tools for Linux, some of which have nice features, but I find that I always return to Dia because it is just easier to use. This may be due to the fact that I know it best, but I think not.

If you have another (Linux) diagram tool that you like better, let me know why!

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