On 20/04/11 09:05, Simon Greenwood wrote:
On 20 April 2011 08:28, alan c<[email protected]> wrote:
I have just learned that Google has discontinued GNU/Linux based support
for Picasa although old versions are still available.
Why care? I do not use it myself, but I am full time involved in helping
newcomers move towards Ubuntu, inevitably they are Windows users. Most want
to change from Windows but are usually suspicious and nervous, and it is a
reassurance to them to find stuff such as Firefox, Thunderbird, Libre/Open
Office.
It helps a lot in the initial period of change. In time, a newcomer will
begin to see things differently, not just from a 'Windows' viewpoint. But
that takes time.
What I have come to realise is that in the nature of things, these people
are really quite likely to be using Picasa! In 'Windows world',
downloading one thing is very much like downloading any other. And Picasa
does useful stuff.
Installing a recent Picasa in (Ubuntu) is a bit of a fiddle now, and the
message from Google might be interpreted as
'Ubuntu is not worth it'
Picasa can, I believe, be installed using Wine, but to get good integration
into gnome or kde it needs to be installed over an earlier legacy version. I
think I have got that right. It is a bit of a fiddle, and does not give a
good message, to a newcomer to Ubuntu, or to anyone.
What to do, to encourage Google to support (Ubuntu)?
They know how many *downloads* of the deb version they get dont they? From
the Google site?
Please, go figure, as they say.
Remember that Picasa was a Windows application that Google inherited, which
is why it only runs under Wine in Linux. I would look at it as endorsement
of Shotwell rather than a rejection of Linux desktops. As a Picasa user I
tried using Picasa with Ubuntu and it's next to useless. Shotwell is rapidly
evolving into one of the best apps for online photo management.
Good to know, thanks. Certainly f-spot seems to have confused my most
recent convert to Ubuntu who is now desperate to continue using
Picasa. I will point to shotwell and will be encouraging (and hope).
However, Ubuntu 10.04 comes with f-spot, so the initial damage is
already done.
Some extra downloads of picasa would surely not go amiss though? This
is my point.
Making an escaper's path as easy as possible, minimising 'change', is
very useful. Many of the newcomers I deal with are *very* totally non
techy, and previous Windows use has more than spooked them. However,
Windows and the stuff they used on it are *familiar*. I read recently
that Windows itself is rarely keeping people using it. It is the
programs and apps people get familiar with which holds them into
Windows. Even if they dislike the whole experience! This is certainly
exactly what I see when talking to possible converts.
Whether Picasa is good or not I think it would be an advantage for
advocacy to do what we can to encourage a recent .deb version, maybe
by influencing the download count.
--
alan cocks
Ubuntu user
--
[email protected]
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