I use Skype a lot, which is great, because that means I can spend a lot of time discussing matters of great importance (*cough*) with people I know. As it has all turned out, I have a big interrest in mathematic and programming. Both of which I discuss with my friends. Now, the problem with discussing these topics is that you often end up talking about something which would be easier illustrated with a small drawing. The idea to create a distributed whiteboard was born.

I recently discovered Python, and thought it would be neat to learn. But I needed some project to work on to motivate me. (You can see where this is leading, right?)

So, here it is. And here is the signature you need to verify that no one has tampered with it. (2005-07-26: Updated. Bugfix by 'Dark Cowherd', and some other changes (mostly application-cosmetic and made use of proper constants for portability)).

You will need Python and the module wxPython to run it.

Once you have everything installed, you can run:

$ whiteboard.py -?

to see what your options are. While you have the program running, you can press ? to get a help dumped to the console.

As for licenses.. I like the BSD style licenses. So.. So do whatever you want with it. If you feel like showing me any improvements, I'd be glad to see them, but no one is going to force you.

Although not as sophisticated as a flowcharting program, this program is quite good for planning your own World Domination Plan.

I'm one of those people who likes to draw ideas on a paper; like simple flow charts and data relation graphs. The problem with paper is that when you're really on to something, you may need to expand your drawing. This is easy when all you need to do is draw in the outer parts of your scetch. Problems begin to crop up when you need to change too much in what you have already done..

I love flowcharts. Everyone can read them, and they make it so easy to find flaws in new designs. For me they work best on a really detailed level (essentially assembler routines) or as an overview of a larger project. There are so many times that I've wanted to visualize an algorithm for my own sake, and others.

I'm writing pyflowcharter for four reasons:

• Because I really want a flow charting program aimed at developers, and not corporate leaders.
• Because I couldn't find a flowcharting program which was free.
• Because I wanted to.
• Because I want to learn more Python/wxPython.

It is somewhat functional. I'll have a test version placed here RSN.

You will need Python and the module wxPython to run it, so if you're interrested, you might as well get them installed now.