Slashdot Mirror
Photogenics 4.5 Beta For Linux Released
Vesuri writes "A couple of weeks ago the Amiga-originated graphics package
Photogenics caused some heated
discussion amongst Slashdot readers. Now there is a
Linux beta version out.
Grab the 363kb archive and judge for yourself. It may well be worth
it. " Check out the original story about its announcement as well.
round 1: costs
Photogenics is payware
The Gimp is free
Score: Photogenics 0, The Gimp 1
round 2: ease of use
Sorry guys, but the Gimp UI sucks. I like having a toolbar rather than hunting thru 42 levels of menus to find a function.
Score: Photogenics 1, The Gimp 1
round 3: eye-candy effects
Photogenics has more nifty effects than The Gimp 1.0.4, but the current devel versions have most of those features. (Gimpressionist, et al.) a point for each.
Score: Photogenics 2, The Gimp 2
round 4: drawing media
Photogenics: Airbrush, Chalk, Pencil, Sponge, Watercolour, Smudge and Smear.
The Gimp: Airbrush, Smudge, Smear (devel only)
Score: Photogenics 3, The Gimp 2
round 5: The Stallman Test
Photogenics: no source (commercial)
The Gimp: More source than you can shake a stick at. (GPL)
Score: Photogenics 3, The Gimp 3
round 6: annoying rabid zealot users
The Gimp: Linux.
Photogenics: Amiga AND Linux
-1 for Photogenics
Score: Photogenics 2, The Gimp 3
round 7: the Slashdot test
The Gimp: +1 insightful (pro-linux karma whore)
Photogenics: -1 troll (aM1g4 0wnZ0rZ j00r l4a3 4ss)
Final score counting only serious categories:
Photogenics: 3, The Gimp: 2
Final score: The Gimp: 4, Photogenics: 1
0 1 - just my two bits
Before starting out I should remind anyone who doesn't know that I'm a Gimp developer... I'm writing this only because I saw a lot of people comparing Gimp and Photogenics elsewhere, many of them without even trying either as far as I could tell.
This is a painting app. Paul doesn't (so far as I know) claim that it's anything else. But many modern packages are more than this, and you shouldn't be surprised that there's a lot of stuff Photogenics just plain can't do.
Anyone who's baffled by layers (say in Gimp or Photoshop) but needs more power than PSP4 or KPaint should check out Photogenics, at worst it will be a gentle introduction to layers and you'll understand other packages better after trying it.
For the "from-scratch" digital artist, it's certainly not so hard to draw stuff in Photogenics as it is in Gimp, or for that matter Photoshop, but then it's even EASIER in MS Paint. Is this a good compromise? Perhaps.
If "paintbrush" and "chalk stick" don't sound like cornerpoints of your days digital image work, then you don't need this app. Just as many drawings done in 5 mins in Photogenics would be an hours work in Gimp, there are many 5 minute techniques for Gimp that PG just can't replicate.
For me, as both a non-artist and a Free Software developer, this app doesn't mean much, for some artists though, there is no doubt this is an important class of app on Linux and they should be trying this out.. now.
From the few comments that I've seen so far, I see an alarming trend. There are people out there, perhaps zealots, perhaps misinformed, perhaps something else, who feel that anything other than their OS/GFX Program is bad. People need to chill out and realize that this is a TOOL and everybody who has ever worked with any mechanical object, a 1/4" wrench, no matter how useful, can't fix every problem, you need other tools. The GIMP is great for a lot of people; heck, I use it myself. Photogenics is probably useful for a different type of problem/person. Politics suck, and too many people are trying to make everything political.
Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses