The funny part is, at the end of the day DRM has not yet actually *stopped* any piracy from happening.
Actually it has. x3: reunion, x3: terran conflict never had it's DRM cracked. After a year when Egosoft removed the DRM (like they do with all their games), it was suddenly available for piracy with pirates claiming a 'quality release' when all they did is take the Non-DRMed version.
Once you are in the big leagues it's totally different.
The cost of software is trivial for medium to large businesses, so not paying software is not enticing; it's all about support and having somebody to sue.
I don't believe you've worked in medium or large companies after that statement.
Additionally, OSS software support is very hit and miss, hackneyed...
Not really. I've received excellent support from Novell and their FOSS offerings.
And frankly there are only a few OSS software vendors that can provide quality enterprise level support.
As opposed to proprietary where there is only a few proprietary software vendors that can provide quality enterprise level support. And note, I do mean quality.
It's that age old problem of there is no accountability/responsibility for quality and support the majority of OSS software that is in existance.
There are plenty of commercial support options for enterprise/corporate/small business FOSS software, see Sun Microsystems, IBM, Redhat, Novell etc. This is no different from not being able to get support for the majority of win32 applications out there, the core set that companies tend to use however do have proper support options available.
As clients using old version of MSIE are more likely to be infected with malware, I decided to not only stop support for them, but block them entirely.
If more sites did alike, users might feel slightly more motivated to update.
I'm curious, what is your site? Because tepin.aiki.de is not blocking IE6 here.
On the other hand I rarely have an XCF master file as I most often use the GIMP to modify existing files. Having Ctrl-S go to a dialog that insists I save as XCF means to me that the GIMP doen't follow established conventions (Ctrl-S saves) for no apparent reason.
Odd, that is not the behavior I've observed (using 2.6.7 currently). ctrl + s always saves normally for me, I even tested it just a moment ago to verify that.
Apparently the developers see the GIMP as a media creation suite.
Image Manipulation actually. Thus I find it funny when people try to compare it to Photoshop, since Photoshop's goals are entirely different and much closer to say.. Krita.
In both KDE 3.5 and Gnome, the Gimp interface sucks for me.
In KDE 3.5 it has been wonderful for me. Being able to snap windows, keep them on top or below, virtual desktops etc. I don't think you really knew how to use your computer if you don't know about how to use simple snapping and 'keep window on top'...
I like using GIMP's image window fullscreen. Mostly because I work on large images, so I like to be able to see as much of the image as possible. Zooming and panning constantly is a waste. The separate-windows model GIMP currently has means that I have to carefully size the window to not be full-screen, but a little bit smaller & carefully position the windows to the sides. Only then can I see both the image and the tools. That is moronic.
I agree, stop using a window manager that doesn't support window snapping or doesn't support having simple built in features like "Keep window on top".
If you must use a crappy OS however, I did write something to get around this under Windows, http://dl.dropbox.com/u/58565/ontop-setup.exe - uses ctrl + space to set the active window to stay "always on top".
As soon as 2.8 is out, we can open a bug ticket, noting that the functionality of "File > Export" is unneccessarily duplicated in "File > Save" and the latter should be removed. It is redundant, after all.
Actually, I find it very useful. I keep the 'master' file under file > save, while other file formats are simply exported. I do not want this removed, it would make my life harder by having to constantly move back and forth between different directories where I keep my original saves and exported saves.
1. How powerful is Krita compared to GIMP? Assuming I get some time to become familiar with it, is there anything GIMP can do that Krita cannot do, or cannot do as well?
GIMP is only for image manipulation. Krita is for painting, image manipulation and printing. So by design the paint tools are superior, colour support (including proper support for the dreaded CMYK) etc.
2. How easy is it to learn?
Subjective question, I'll just answer from my own experience - I had no training, I didn't use manuals. I learned how to effectively use GIMP within two weeks, Krita within about two weeks too and I got frustrated with Photoshop after four weeks and never really managed to learn how to use it effectively.
Bonus question if you know: any difference between KDE 3 Krita and KDE 4 Krita that people should know about?
don't claim that users are perfect and "know" what they want, but it has to be said: if you are making a USER interface, it's probably best if the USER gets some say in that and that you listen to the USERS especially when a large of them speak up.
As a GIMP user, I have been saying for many years that I love GIMP's multi-window system and I don't feel that making a clone of Photoshop is in the best interests of the GIMP project.
GIMP has woken up to the protests of almost *every* non-professional-user that's ever wanted to use it.
The protests of "almost *every* non-professional-user" has always been among the lines of "Make it more like *commercial product*". I disagree with the clone philosophy.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't understand. I thought they were threatening the 'dude' for trademark violation for violating their 'facebook' and 'FB' trademarks?
Actually it has. x3: reunion, x3: terran conflict never had it's DRM cracked. After a year when Egosoft removed the DRM (like they do with all their games), it was suddenly available for piracy with pirates claiming a 'quality release' when all they did is take the Non-DRMed version.
Why do my friends who own PS3 rabble forever if PSN goes down then?
One of them even told me he can't even start some single player game because it couldn't get their achievement data when offline?
It's a shame I don't really find any of the Stardock games interesting.
I played for a month in offline mode (and then I had Internet access again so I could play online). So I know it works for at least a month.
Do you consider Ars a 'good web site' then and if so, have you bought a subscription?
If you actually RTFA'd, you would have known that simply the impressions on the ads earn Ars money.
Why don't you pay for a subscription then?
True. Since a lot of journalists out there don't seem to bother with fact checking anymore. It's all about the sensationalism.
Thought crime detected in sector 31B. Recommended action: Exterminate.
I have found that Zimbra's opensource version is quite easy to install and maintain.
I run my own servers, I don't trust 'free' providers and after seeing the quality of service done by 'paid' providers, I don't trust them either.
Any other database with a decent market share? Alright, let's take one that has a larger market share than Microsoft SQL servers ever had.
http://secunia.com/advisories/product/6782/
verses
http://secunia.com/advisories/product/3827/
That was too easy.
Turns out that quote you miss quoted was made up.
So, when is someone going to make the freely downloadable opensource remix of her book then?
I don't believe you've worked in medium or large companies after that statement.
Not really. I've received excellent support from Novell and their FOSS offerings.
As opposed to proprietary where there is only a few proprietary software vendors that can provide quality enterprise level support. And note, I do mean quality.
There are plenty of commercial support options for enterprise/corporate/small business FOSS software, see Sun Microsystems, IBM, Redhat, Novell etc. This is no different from not being able to get support for the majority of win32 applications out there, the core set that companies tend to use however do have proper support options available.
I'm curious, what is your site? Because tepin.aiki.de is not blocking IE6 here.
Odd, that is not the behavior I've observed (using 2.6.7 currently). ctrl + s always saves normally for me, I even tested it just a moment ago to verify that.
Image Manipulation actually. Thus I find it funny when people try to compare it to Photoshop, since Photoshop's goals are entirely different and much closer to say.. Krita.
That's why you use virtual desktops.
In KDE 3.5 it has been wonderful for me. Being able to snap windows, keep them on top or below, virtual desktops etc. I don't think you really knew how to use your computer if you don't know about how to use simple snapping and 'keep window on top'...
I agree, stop using a window manager that doesn't support window snapping or doesn't support having simple built in features like "Keep window on top".
If you must use a crappy OS however, I did write something to get around this under Windows, http://dl.dropbox.com/u/58565/ontop-setup.exe - uses ctrl + space to set the active window to stay "always on top".
Actually, I find it very useful. I keep the 'master' file under file > save, while other file formats are simply exported. I do not want this removed, it would make my life harder by having to constantly move back and forth between different directories where I keep my original saves and exported saves.
GIMP is only for image manipulation. Krita is for painting, image manipulation and printing. So by design the paint tools are superior, colour support (including proper support for the dreaded CMYK) etc.
Subjective question, I'll just answer from my own experience - I had no training, I didn't use manuals. I learned how to effectively use GIMP within two weeks, Krita within about two weeks too and I got frustrated with Photoshop after four weeks and never really managed to learn how to use it effectively.
One crashes more than the other.
As a GIMP user, I have been saying for many years that I love GIMP's multi-window system and I don't feel that making a clone of Photoshop is in the best interests of the GIMP project.
The protests of "almost *every* non-professional-user" has always been among the lines of "Make it more like *commercial product*". I disagree with the clone philosophy.
I wouldn't, I don't want to see the goal of software to be just a clone of another piece of software. I want to see innovation.