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Google Releases Picasa for Linux
chrisd writes "Hi, everyone. Today I'm pleased to announce that we're making Picasa, our photo management application, available for Linux. This is a pre-beta labs release and since we're still learning on how to best make software for Linux, we're asking that you submit your bugs as you find them. Picasa for Linux uses Wine internally; this shows a bit in the interface, but it works even better than we had hoped. Download it and check it out! A list of supported distributions can be found in the FAQ. We hope our patches to Wine will help make it easier for everyone to run Windows apps on Linux and other Unix-like systems. Thanks to our pals at CodeWeavers who did much of the heavy lifting, and to Marcus Meissner, whose libgphoto support patch was a welcome surprise."
No source code.
It's not a "fairly standard application" that we all take for granted. It's Google, a big corporation, openly and freely providing one of their major software applications for Linux (albeit using Wine). This does NOT happen very often, and we should bow down and praise those (Google) who do it! It's NOT just a "regular" software release.
ttuttle is a rankmaniac
Wine is not emulation. Its an API. Its no different then any other linux app. No different then chosing QT over GTK or any thing else. Whats wrong with coding to a cross platform library?
Wine is an implementation of the Windows API. It is not an emulator of any kind. It enables code written using it to run natively on non-Microsoft platforms. By extension of your logic it would seem that any application written using a library "intended" for use in the Linux world (such as Gaim and GTK+) cannot be considered "native" to Windows when ported to it, but this is clearly not the case. Using Wine may not be the nicest way to develop an application from the ground-up for Linux, but if it works, it works. What Google has released is indeed a native Linux application. Furthermore they have obviously made an extensive effort to improve both the code of Picasa and of Wine to address any bugs in Wine that might have resulted in poor performance.
Google funded 225 WINE patches. How many people who won't even use Picasa will benefit from that? IMHO, that's more important than Google releasing a package that lets Picasa run on Linux.
Why is the Linux version restricted to the US only?
US Export restrictions.
Land of the Free, except when you try to get stuff out.
May the Maths Be with you!
Why?
If this installs and runs easily on Linux, why does it matter whether it's a 'native port' or some other hoops and tricks method? If it installs and runs, the that counts as released for linux.
One of the biggest prospects for Linux's wide-scale adoption will be the ability to run programs designed for Windows. If the end result of Wine's development is that programs only need written once and then can either use a customised Wine to run under Linux, or slot into a supported, pre-installed and easy to use version of Wine (like Crossover Office or Cadega), then that counts as a better conclusion in terms of getting all vital software running on Linux than requiring a complete re-write of every app we want which, let's face it, will never happen.
I've used Linux for over 2 years as my primary operating system. 2 months ago, I installed Microsoft Office via Crossover Office. It works as well as under Windows, installed as easily as under Windows thanks to Crossover's fine work, and has given me no problems. Although I still use Openoffice for most things, I have software in Access that I am currently porting to an Apache/PHP/MySQL system to which I need access from Linux. Plus, compared to 'Impress', Powerpoint is a breath of fresh air in terms of usability.
Wine provides the promise to be able to run any software on Linux. Where's the problem when companies like Google take advantage of that to release software they wouldn't otherwise have the time or manpower to re-write?
Is crushing a suspect's child's testicles illegal?
John Yoo: "No, [if] the President thinks he needs to do that."
This announcement has very little to do with Picassa.
Read between the lines (or even one particular line, explicitly): OUR patches to wine.
Google, which has a proven track-record of success when they start off in some strange new direction, has taken on the task of making Wine work better.
Think about that for a minute, and you'll get the "big" news here.
True, but that's not what they're doing. They're using winelib, which is a native Linux/X toolkit. It only just happens to behave very similarly to the Windows API.
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
Google have no obligations to the Linux/OSS communities, period. The fact that they've invested so much time, money and effort into not only their own Linux app, but also back to the Wine community should be applauded. Nobody is forcing you to use this. Don't like the way they've done it? Don't use it.
Seriously, give them a break. They're making baby steps in the right direction. They've released what, a pre-beta via their labs? And so many people on Slashdot are expecting it to be a polished product... that's just wrong. Their forte is definitely not Linux desktop apps, but from the sounds of things, they certainly want to improve. Oh shock! They're not there on day 1. Or day 2. Well, Linux wasn't written in a day, nor were the plethora of other desktop apps for Linux.
Let's not forget the human factor. Those programmers that worked on getting Picasa running on Google I'm sure would love some positive feedback to encourage them to continue working hard on it. I know I would. They're probably also unhappy that this pre-beta version isn't 'up to par' with the Windows version, but they're working on improving that. Reading their FAQ endeared the team that did this to me.
As for Wine usage. Big deal. It's not like they're charging you $69 for the app. It works, and they aim to improve it. Sounds to me like they had a hard time trying to get it to work on so many different distros, instead of just say.. Red Hat. This project was only announced 4-5 months ago. Let's hope to see Google Earth before Christmas!
This space for rent.