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I googled "Photoshop alternative" and GIMP was suggested in the first five hits (I stopped checking after that). There's this annoying FLOSS motte-and-bailey c

by Joeboy 9y ago

I googled "Photoshop alternative" and GIMP was suggested in the first five hits (I stopped checking after that). There's this annoying FLOSS motte-and-bailey conversation that you see over and over again that starts with "X is a Free replacement for Y!" and ends with "Why don't you fix it yourself then?", via "Nobody ever said X was a replacement for Y".

pavs 9y ago
An alternative option for PS is not same as being feature parity replacement of PS. PS is a commercial image editor owned by a company with billions of dollars and many years worth of commercial development and improvements - it is used by a very specific group of users with specific needs and specific skills. And they don't mind paying a hefty fee for it. GIMP (and other similar OS projects) is for everyone else, who wants to do light image editing in an amateur setting without having to pay a large amount for it. Having said that - GIMP has some very powerful features that are as good as PS, but not a feature parity replacement of it. Nor do I think GIMP has the funding or the development mind-share to achieve that.
- dagw 9y ago
  GIMP (and other similar OS projects) is for everyone else, who wants to do light image editing in an amateur setting without having to pay a large amount for it Except that isn't really true either. If you want to do "light image editing in an amateur setting" GIMP is massive overkill, and there are plenty of easier to use tools. GIMP lives in a strange limbo between not 'light' enough for light work and not heavy enough for 'heavy' work.
  - pavs 9y ago
    Yes, there are a lot of lighter image editing options out there, and most of them are even free. But at least my understanding is that GIMP is still predominantly used by amateurs. I didn't say it's the only option, it's one of the more powerful image editing options for amateurs.

by Joeboy 9y ago

pavs 9y ago

An alternative option for PS is not same as being feature parity replacement of PS. PS is a commercial image editor owned by a company with billions of dollars and many years worth of commercial development and improvements - it is used by a very specific group of users with specific needs and specific skills. And they don't mind paying a hefty fee for it. GIMP (and other similar OS projects) is for everyone else, who wants to do light image editing in an amateur setting without having to pay a large amount for it. Having said that - GIMP has some very powerful features that are as good as PS, but not a feature parity replacement of it. Nor do I think GIMP has the funding or the development mind-share to achieve that.

dagw 9y ago
GIMP (and other similar OS projects) is for everyone else, who wants to do light image editing in an amateur setting without having to pay a large amount for it Except that isn't really true either. If you want to do "light image editing in an amateur setting" GIMP is massive overkill, and there are plenty of easier to use tools. GIMP lives in a strange limbo between not 'light' enough for light work and not heavy enough for 'heavy' work.
- pavs 9y ago
  Yes, there are a lot of lighter image editing options out there, and most of them are even free. But at least my understanding is that GIMP is still predominantly used by amateurs. I didn't say it's the only option, it's one of the more powerful image editing options for amateurs.