Google Labs has released Picasa for Linux, ported using Wine by CodeWeavers. The free Picasa download is available now. My Take: The software requirements are fairly hefty in that some features require cutting edge programs like HAL and a 2.6+ kernel, but this is fantastic news for Linux users. Picasa is an excellent program that rivals iPhoto. Update by AS : Google ported Picasa using Wine, but it was still a LOT of work and the result was completely effective. Please read more on the WineHQ mailing list. Update 2: You do not need Wine installed to run this - it's a self-contained Wine lib. Also, the Picasa download apparently doesn't work from all countries. Update by TH: Here's a review.
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Member since:2005-07-06
Maybe they thought Picasa was the best of the bunch and it made sense that it was already written in Windows, so it would spread the fastest and get the word out? Then worry about the rest later.
Eh? 'It's written for Windows so it would get the word out'? That's pretty daft. It's only a photo management app we're talking about here. It would have ran on Windows just as well even if it was made a cross-platform app.
Don't kid yourself, Google is a business, not the magical open-source hero corporation.
Yer, which is why it would have made more sense, and been cheaper, had they made Picasso or something else cross-platform in the first place. It makes zero sense the way they've done it, and Google just haven't been using their famed thinking caps and thinking ahead.
They use open source software, and in the long run, they need to get their applications and platform off Windows and on to something else as Microsoft looks to angle Windows more towards their own services. That's not an open source hero thing, that's just a business fact.
Member since:2005-07-10
"Yer, which is why it would have made more sense, and been cheaper, had they made Picasso or something else cross-platform in the first place. It makes zero sense the way they've done it, and Google just haven't been using their famed thinking caps and thinking ahead."
Ehm, iirc they bought picasa, so they had no influence on how it was written in the first place.
Also, I don't get all these negative comments.
I just gave it a try, it's dead simple to install, it integrate quite nicely, it even looks quite nicely and from what I can tell it works.
Add to this that a free software project received more than 250 contributions in the process of porting picasa and I don't really see what's there to complain.
Member since:2005-07-06
Word of mouth my friend. Windows has a large user base, so there are more potential people to try it, and more potential people for those who try it to tell about Picasa.
How would it have been cheaper to write for Linux when the app was already coded for Windows?
Why would they care in the first place to spend that much time writing for Linux? How much do you think they really care about Linux? They use it for their own servers because it gives them the flexibility to do what they want and it's cheaper. Writing software for Picasa is not "cheaper" than writing for Windows.
Member since:
2005-07-06
Maybe they thought Picasa was the best of the bunch and it made sense that it was already written in Windows, so it would spread the fastest and get the word out? Then worry about the rest later.
Don't kid yourself, Google is a business, not the magical open-source hero corporation.