The Gimp 2.4 was released today and it includes a number of new features, like scalable brushes, align tool, new selection tools, color Management and soft-proofing, Red Eye removal and much more. Unfortunately, there is still no 16bit per pixel support, which is useful for digital photography editing.
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Member since:2006-12-16
Sorry, I don't buy this. Look at Krita - much better GUI imho, there's nothing stopping the GIMP developers from taking advantage of the various improvements that Krita offers.
Maybe the GIMP developers should stop adding features for a while, and concentrate on the GUI, since it is an incredibly sore point with GIMP users. Fix that, forgo new features, then later on, worry about new features. Then there's gimpshop.
I think the real reasons are the same as with Blender - the main developers can't be bothered because they like the current GUI and have the attitude that if others don't like it, tough.
I really find it hard to swallow with some of the open source zealots - they'll bag the shit out of KDE cos it's 'over complicated' and 'has a poor UI', but they won't bag the darling of the Linux world - the GIMP. Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? It's one of the things that has really turned me off Linux - it's full of hypocrites. At least with Microsoft and Apple, you know where you stand.
Dave
Member since:2006-01-16
Did you talk to any main Gimp developer? Obviously not, because otherwise you would have known their attitude right instead making false assumptions and claims.
Funny how you tell they should stop adding features, while half of the world doesn't stop to constantly demand them! (see in particular this thread)
The real reason is that every lame user complains and complains instead of solving. The real reason is, that most developers are interested in other projects, perhaps because they are more fancy or popular. Perhaps it is not regarded as cool to develop The Gimp because everybody seems to be so upset about it. But sure, everybody go and develop Firefox which is getting crappier and crappier every day while Gimp at least slowly evolves.
Perhaps you should just change your own attitude, zealotty or whatever instead of complaining about people who really do the work (and are really very friendly, too). And if you like KDE, where's your problem with people who don't like it?
Edited 2007-10-25 11:41
Member since:2006-01-09
You don't dare to suggest that they should change Blender UI so that grandmas all over the world can produce their own 3D content!
I don't know anything about CAD so you can rest assured that you won't see me ever complaining on a AutoCAD forum demanding Autodesk to change its UI so that I can design something on it.
All 3D programs in the world have a complex interface with a steep learning curve because these tools are very powerful and are intended to be used mainly by people that did bother to read the fine manual at least once. Of course, it doesn't hurt if one have some artistic sensibility as well. Not everybody can work for Pixar or even capable of rendering some primitives inside a box, you know?
What pisses me me off the most is that I don't see anyone complaining about Maya's or Lightwave's highly counterintuitive but efficient UIs, but somehow they feel entitled to ask Blender devs to change its UI because it is OSS, I guess.
Not to mention that there are lighter 3D packages out there that are better suited to people that have no idea what a mesh or a vertice means in 3D such as Xara3D - formerly Corel Xara - and others that probably cover their needs (such as the usual 3D metallic logo spinning in empty space to put on MySpace or their blogs) but for some unknown reason they want to go with the full blown pro app that they barely understand what it does.
Blender UI is probably the most productive interface of all times once you learn how to use it. I think that the only app that has a workflow that can possibly match and/or overcome Blender in speed is Wings3D.
Enough with this HIG stupidity! Leave it confined to GNOME, brain-dead end-users applications and the likes and leave the Pro apps alone to the professionals. The day that the Blender developers start catering to this sort of requests will be the day that I and many blenderheads that I know will stop using it!
Edited 2007-10-25 18:40
Member since:
2006-01-16
2.4 _has_ some important additions, for example (finally!) you can create/modify selections like using a brush.
The problem of The Gimp is just developers, developers, developers... err there aren't any. To be serious, you can count the main Gimp contributors using one hand.
Talk to them and they will tell you the same old story: "Yeah we always try to improve our GUI, but we don't have time to overhaul everything at once, would you perhaps like to do it?"
To solve the problem with slow pace development, missing features, etc., The Gimp just needs to attract more developers. For example, they could try to participate with Google Summer Of Code...