What is Shoebot?
Shoebot is a pure Python graphics robot: It takes a Python script as input, which describes a drawing process, and outputs a graphic in a common open standard format (SVG, PDF, PostScript, or PNG). It has a simple text editor GUI, and scripts can describe their own GUIs for controlling variables interactively. Being pure Python, it can also be used as a Python module, a plugin for Python-scriptable tools such as Inkscape, and run from the command line. It was directly inspired by DrawBot and Shoes. Thus, “Shoebot.”
DrawBot is a Mac OS X application developed by Just van Rossum of LettError in the Netherlands, and its derivative Nodebox, developed by Frederik Bleser and Tom de Smedt at St. Lucas University in Belgium. In turn it also draws inspiration from Processing and Logo.
Shoes is a similar and awesome project using the Ruby language instead of Python, and its principles are outlined in The Little Coder’s Predicament, a fun read.
How does Shoebot work?
Comparing to graphics coding alternatives like Drawbot, Nodebox and Processing, Shoebot is light and flexible because it does not depend on an interface engine for rendering, although it has one too.
It has a simple command-line interface which makes it potentially suitable for computationally intensive uses such as webserver image generation. It also has the ability to be called from external Python scripts without effort.
It does interactive rendering with the Cairo graphics engine, coupled with a simple, experimental, GTK user interface.
See the Getting Started page for more details. There’s a lot of stuff that is still subject to change and/or not working quite as it should – please regard it as being in a very alpha phase – but we’re coding hard to resolve this! 
What do I need to install it?
A GNU/Linux system is recommended, but Shoebot is cross-platform so you can take small steps to a fully free software system. It has been successfully tested on Debian Etch, Fedora 9, Ubuntu Hardy and Intrepid, Windows, and experimentally on an Intel Mac running Mac OS X Leopard.
For downloading and installing instructions, head over to the Install page.
What can I do to help?
- Promote? ShoeBot – Talk about it, demonstrate it to your friends, make posters to advertise it!
- Discuss? ShoeBot – On our mailing list and IRC
- Report Bugs – and suggest new features
- Develop new features and fix your favourite bugs
What is the source code license?
Shoebot is free software release under the GNU General Public License v3 or any later version. The sourcecode can be browsed on the Trac.
Quick Links
- Mercurial repository homepage: https://code.goto10.org/hg/shoebot
- Trac and bug tracker: http://code.goto10.org/projects/shoebot
- Announcements blog: http://identi.ca/shoebot
- Developer mailing list: http://lists.tinkerhouse.net/listinfo.cgi/shoebot-devel-tinkerhouse.net
Contact
Shoebot is developed by Ricardo Lafuente, and he can be reached at r at sollec dot org
The Shoebot repository (Mercurial and Trac) is generously hosted at the wonderful GOTO10 servers. This website runs on PmWiki, using the WikiLove theme by Theron Parlin.