I read the article and comments on Slashdot (like others have) and then the
comments below.
For the most part, I think the GImp users are happy with it. The vast
majority of discussion that goes on in this list deals with questions asked
about performing certain functions or tasks (the "How do I" questions),
followed by some questions asking when Gimp will support some
functionality, like CMYK support and support for 16-bit images (please
excuse my incorrect use of terminology), etc. Before the Slashdot article,
I don't recall seeing many, if any, "Gimp sucks" posts or anything like
that here. In fact, I recall reading comments from a number of PhotoShop
users who converted or are in the process of converting to using Gimp and
those seem to be the main people asking for CMYK and that kind of
enhancement/support.
The point is, I don't think things in "Gimp land" are as bad as your
comments indicate. It's clear from the comments in the Slashdot article
that a number of people either don't like or don't "get" the Gimp
interface. I've got no issue with those comments since people are allowed
to have their opinions. However, I don't think Gimp is "broken" or
severely "deficient" or anything like that. It works quite well for me and
Gimp 2.0.1 runs well on both my Windows and Linux systems. The UI, even on
Windows, isn't a mystery at all, or maybe I'm just used to it. The Gimp
interface seemed "natural" to me since I come from a Unix background moreso
than a Windows background so I'm not expecting Gimp to behave like any
other Windows app *just because* it runs on Windows. I'm sure at some
point that might happen and then I'm not sure what I'll do. :)
Seriously, we all know Gimp isn't perfect and could use improvement
(outside of blatant bugs that need fixing, etc) and I have confidence in
the Gimp developers that it WILL improve over time. I consider Gimp 2 to
be a considerable improvement over Gimp 1.2, even though we're all wanting
to get some of the old plug-ins and filters back. :) What I find most
interesting is people are more willing to criticize and critique than they
are to submit "useful" information through the feeedback mechanisms in
place, whether that be through submitting Bug Reports or posting comments
on the mailing list or maybe making use of the Wiki on the Gimp site (if
that's appropriate).
Maybe I'm in the minority here but I'm a happy Gimp user and I'm sticking
with it, "cumbersome" UI and all. :)
Peace....
Tom
Alan Horkan
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]
d.ie> To
Sent by:
gimp-user-bounces cc
@lists.xcf.berkel Gimp Users
ey.edu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject
Re: [Gimp-user] Gimp on Slashdot
05/05/2004 03:16
PM
On Wed, 5 May 2004, Sven Neumann wrote:
> Date: 05 May 2004 02:13:13 +0200
> From: Sven Neumann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: Alan Horkan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: Gimp Users <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: [Gimp-user] Gimp on Slashdot
>
> Hi,
>
> Alan Horkan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> > How many more of these articles must be written before the Gimp
> > developers accept that simple drawing tools are a must for a certain
> > type of user?
>
> We accepted this fact a long time ago. Pointing at it again doesn't
> hurt but in the end someone needs to sit down and write code.
While I cannot provide the code I guess what I can do is draw peoples
attention to the bug that address their concerns.
[So for user that want basic drawing tools in the Gimp it would be this
bug report:
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=65197 ]
Everytime there is a new Gimp release or featured article the same issues
come up, it is frustrating for everyone, clearly there is a knowledge gap.
While I realise that much of the discussion on Slashdot is unhelpful it
would be very good 'PR' if the Gimp developers could publically address a
few of the significant issues and actively solicit code in the cases where
that is all that is required.
Perhaps if voting was allowed on Gimp bugs in bugzilla it would become
apparent which features are really most important to users?
Would it be acceptable to start a meta bug that that tried to group bugs
that users familiar with Adobe Photoshop find particularly annoying?
An Official and up to date List of Frequently Asked Questions would
probably help too (and I know from recent discussions that is something we
would all like to see).
I did a quick look for FAQ and found this and the date at the bottom of
the page (1996-1998) suggests it is not actively maintained.
http://www.rru.com/~meo/gimp/faq-user.html
And this FAQ is unofficial but it seems to be more recently maintained
http://home.planet.nl/~dark-echo/gimp-faq/
And there is the GUG FAQs
http://gug.sunsite.dk/faq.php
Are there any other users currently maintaining FAQ that could be
"blessed" and turned into an Official FAQ and put on the website into some
sort of content management system (like Wiki, preferably one that supports
HTML syntax)?
I'm throwing out some ideas because I want to try and be constructive but
I have exams coming up soon so I can only do a very limited amount at the
moment.
Sincerely
Alan Horkan
http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/
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