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MacGimp Reviewed, Available For Easy Download
Kelly McNeill writes "Now that a native X Window system (X11) comes as standard equipment on OS X Panther, osViews' Kelly McNeill thought that now might be the right time to review the latest (stable) version of of the GNU Image Manipulation Program -- version 1.2.5. Gimp reviews in the past have typically either been written from a non-technical perspective -- authored by graphic artists or by software developers -- having little understanding of the needs of graphic designers. Kelly McNeill is a self-proclaimed tech geek and a working graphic artist, which makes the review all the more interesting." And Durin_Deathless writes "A new open source company, Archei LLC , is sponsoring free downloads of MacGIMP. You can download here(1)(officially) or here(2) (no personal info needed). You could also use Fink to get GIMP, but if GIMP is all want, here you go."
From the article:
>After thinking about it however, I realized that these
>complaints were mis-directed. Clipboard data is not an
>application-specific function. Therefore, the problem is
>not something specific to The Gimp, but rather to X11.
That it isn't GIMP's problem doesn't keep it from being, well, a problem with GIMP.
Integrate Keynote and LaTeX
"My guess is that it is not yet ready for 10.3" Interesting, MacGIMP seems to work just fine, even with very large images, on my TiBook 550 running 10.3.1.
Cole's Axiom: The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant. The population is growing.
The thing to realize is that a lot of the things missing from Photoshop that are easier in other programs are the things that Photoshop users have learned to work around while still remaining in Photoshop, frequently ignoring upgrades to stay with a version familiar to them.
Photoshop is a lot like Autocad - once you get used to it functioning a certain way and have customized it, there's no need to upgrade just because Adobe says so. An upgrade may add some new features, but if you've learned quick workarounds, why bother?
The same with Gimp - I'm familiar with Photoshop, I know how to get the things done I need to do - why bother switching programs? The extra frustration that comes with learning a new way of doing the same old things doesn't justify the change.
To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
1. So port GTK to native MacOSX. Too much effort? Then it's effort or a waste of memory. I choose to "waste" memory.
2. GTK doesn't look like anything. You have issues with the default theme. Go get a nice Aqua theme and enjoy your gooey colors.
3. You're right, file management in GTK apps does suck. GTK2 (which GIMP 1.3 uses) will be fixing this real soon now(tm).
I want my Cowboyneal
I use Gimp on a Linux Box (because there is no Photoshop).
Did anyone try to save an image as jpeg? The quality is arghhh.
I really prefer to reboot into Windows or use my Mac with Photoshop.
I'm really doing a lot with open source software. Some programs are great (jedit). But I fear the arrival of the day when such great companies like BareBones, Adobe or Metrowerks have to close their gates (hehe) and we all remain only with this free stuff.
The user friendliness if 98% of these things is very bad. Good only for people, who have fun finding out how things work. NOT for professionals who need to use programs to do their work.
Gimp is no exception IMO.
As a scientist, I can justify the purchase of one or more macs -- with a straight face -- because of X11. That't the only way I can get the software I need up and running now (although I needed it yesterday).
X11 may not be beautiful, but face it, developers of specialized software rooted in legacy code aren't going to turn into sleek, fashionable Cocoa-only coders for the love of Steve. Similarly, the Gimp folks aren't going to neglect their Linux and Windows audience to concentrate on Objective C.
Apple embraced Open GL, Perl, Python, Java, and nobody complained. Say hello to X11.
Memory is cheap -- software development isn't.