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Close to a decade ago. But I haven't noticed any usability improvements. I feel like the time spent with GIMP was time wasted compared to other software where I

Close to a decade ago. But I haven't noticed any usability improvements. I feel like the time spent with GIMP was time wasted compared to other software where I could easily get what I needed done yet progressively gained aptitude for productivity and creativity. vim for example supports this. This is not to completely slam GIMP, it can be fine for software to demand users learn it deeply before doing simple things (draw a filled shape, draw over layers, consistently remove backgrounds, all typical things a user wants to do that are far from straightforward in GIMP), and to be appreciated by some people for its scripting ability and filters, but it's not a good go-to graphics software and more user friendly software should be promoted. Its name should be the first clue to this status.

Joeboy 9y ago
Yeah, I think GIMP has this "open source best in class" status that it maybe deserved ~20 years ago but now it's kind of punching above its weight in terms of popularity. That said, I actually think the current devs are doing good work, usability has totally improved and I'm somewhat optimistic that once this big, important, multi-year development branch is out of the door we'll see continued improvements.
- prokoudine 9y ago
  Can't reply to your other comment about WONTFIX for MDI, because the thread went too deep. I get your point about having to wait for 7 years, but let's just scroll down to the bottom: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7379#c118 https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7379#c118 "...we should finally close this report as WONTFIX. This has been discussed to dead and there are plans for a user interface that will solve the problems that the MDI approach is supposed to solve." and then: "We are currently working on changes to the user interface that will solve the problems that the MDI approach is supposed to address. Window-in-window is definitely not part of this plan. It's not going to happen." So it wasn't just closed as WONTFIX, it was closed as WONTFIX, because users requested MDI, and instead tabbed interface was introduced.
  - Joeboy 9y ago
    Fair enough, although I'll counter that GIMP didn't actually get single-window mode until 2011 (a full 10 years after that bug report), and it seems like the GIMP devs spent a lot of the intervening period trying to claim lack of single-window mode as a feature. Like I say, ancient history now. But some of us are good at holding onto grudges :-)
prokoudine 9y ago
"Close to a decade ago." We started working with Peter Sikking, professional UX architect, around 2006. He departed three years ago or so. That puts your claim roughly in the time when Pete was extremely active and wrote several functional specs that were implemented to make UI better. Now tell me, do you feel like you remember 10 years old stuff correctly after several beers?
- davidy123 9y ago
  Yes, I remember it very well, and it's been reinforced nicely by other comments. It does seem GIMP developers have their own idea of reality. Congratulations on having the most heralded open source graphics editor, by the way.

Joeboy 9y ago

Yeah, I think GIMP has this "open source best in class" status that it maybe deserved ~20 years ago but now it's kind of punching above its weight in terms of popularity. That said, I actually think the current devs are doing good work, usability has totally improved and I'm somewhat optimistic that once this big, important, multi-year development branch is out of the door we'll see continued improvements.

prokoudine 9y ago
Can't reply to your other comment about WONTFIX for MDI, because the thread went too deep. I get your point about having to wait for 7 years, but let's just scroll down to the bottom: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7379#c118 https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7379#c118 "...we should finally close this report as WONTFIX. This has been discussed to dead and there are plans for a user interface that will solve the problems that the MDI approach is supposed to solve." and then: "We are currently working on changes to the user interface that will solve the problems that the MDI approach is supposed to address. Window-in-window is definitely not part of this plan. It's not going to happen." So it wasn't just closed as WONTFIX, it was closed as WONTFIX, because users requested MDI, and instead tabbed interface was introduced.
- Joeboy 9y ago
  Fair enough, although I'll counter that GIMP didn't actually get single-window mode until 2011 (a full 10 years after that bug report), and it seems like the GIMP devs spent a lot of the intervening period trying to claim lack of single-window mode as a feature. Like I say, ancient history now. But some of us are good at holding onto grudges :-)

prokoudine 9y ago

"Close to a decade ago." We started working with Peter Sikking, professional UX architect, around 2006. He departed three years ago or so. That puts your claim roughly in the time when Pete was extremely active and wrote several functional specs that were implemented to make UI better. Now tell me, do you feel like you remember 10 years old stuff correctly after several beers?

davidy123 9y ago
Yes, I remember it very well, and it's been reinforced nicely by other comments. It does seem GIMP developers have their own idea of reality. Congratulations on having the most heralded open source graphics editor, by the way.