Slashdot Mirror
Ubuntu Replaces F-Spot With Shotwell
climenole writes "Finally! The much discussed F-Spot vs. Shotwell battle is over. The new default image organizer app for Ubuntu Maverick 10.10 is going to be Shotwell. This is a much-needed change; F-Spot was simply not enough. Most of the times when I tried F-Spot, it just keeps crashing on me. Shotwell on the other hand feels a lot more solid and is better integrated with the GNOME desktop. Shotwell is also completely devoid of Mono."
It's still a poisoned platform. You might have the language, but not all of the frameworks are covered under that patent promise (or so I understand).
Use Java if you want a language like that. C#/Mono is a dangerous knock-off, its frameworks offer little that Java doesn't, and all it really has behind it that Java lacks is a large company that's hostile to software freedom. Let it die, and let Miguel find some other hobby.
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
Well, depends if you want to be a general image manager, or a photo manager. You, know, as in, pictures, with uneven edges and graduated colours.
You know, the kind of stuff that PNG utterly and completely sucks at?
Anyone who considers PNG for storing pictures needs to stop, right away. PNG has one advantage: it's a lossless format (as opposed to JPEG). But then you could use TIFF, or DNG. I don't care what you use, be it Lightroom, F-spot or Shotwell; PNG does not bring *any* benefit to managing pictures.
PNG is excellent for screenshots, and most computer-generated stuff (powerpoint, whatever, anything that is mostly made of straight lines and edges). However, it will suck in terms of size as soon as you confront with photographic material. Most PNG's will have between 5 and 10 times the size of the same JPEG, with absolutely no noticeable difference in quality.
The whole point about photography is that you don't need ultimate quality. Shoot in RAW, convert to DNG upon import, and keep it as DNG. Then, once you're finished with your post, export the final result to JPEG, once, and share that.
Don't bloody talk about lack of PNG support. Lack of RAW and DNG support is damaging for a "photo manager". PNG never has and never will be a plus or minus point for a photo manager.
PS: Why convert to DNG upon import? Full metadata support instead of using sidecar files. DNG is an open file format which does not require reverse engineering (as opposed to most proprietary RAW files), and you have the added benefit that should you require sharing a DNG, any professional photographer will be able to open it (as opposed to say if he's a Canon-only photog, or Nikon-only).