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It should also say that it fulfills the same purpose Adobe Lightroom does. I think this would help a lot of people. It’s not an alternative for photoshop for ex

It should also say that it fulfills the same purpose Adobe Lightroom does. I think this would help a lot of people. It’s not an alternative for photoshop for example.

seanhunter 7y ago
They probably specifically don't say that to avoid potential copyright issues. Depending on jurisdiction (I'm thinking specifically UK and EU here) you can't actually say that about a competitive product without encountering problems.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- niknetniko 7y ago
  I'm note sure about the EU part, because in Belgium you can mention competitors, e.g. "Darktable aims to fulfil the same need as Lightroom" is absolutely allowed, without problems. There aren't even rules specifically for mentioning competitors, it's about comparisons in general. For example, saying your product is "the best on the market" counts as a comparison, and you'll need proof to back up your statements.
  - brudgers 7y ago
    Even a lawsuit without merit would require lawyering up and suck scarce time and energy. Adobe has deep pockets and lawyers on staff. Darktable has volunteers.
    - pdabbadabba 7y ago
      By this logic, they probably should have picked a different name.
    - StavrosK 7y ago
      You can file a lawsuit without merit about anything, you don't need merit.
      - brudgers 7y ago
        I agree. I think never mentioning Lightroom is a way of steering clear of meritorious suits and reduces the likelihood of a frivolous one...since even a frivolous lawsuit could be fatal. Anyway, "here is our cool thing" is probably organizationally healthier than "us against evil corp."
- big_chungus 7y ago
  The darktable guys can't just release it under American copyright law? So long as the site and source are hosted by American companies, they wouldn't have to worry about other nations' rules.
  - peterjussi 7y ago
    I wouldn't count on it. As long as the product is available and marketed in other countries they can get caught in legal issues for not following those countries laws relating to marketing and offering of products.
    - big_chungus 7y ago
      Darktable is open source, though; it's not really offering a commercial product. Besides, what will eurocrats do if they determine a copyright issue? It's not as though there will be any earnings to garnish, worst-case scenario. If I (an American) publish a software project, Euro trademark law doesn't apply to me.
      - jaakl 7y ago
        Legally does it really matter what is your specific price point or development model? Also it does nor matter what is your residency, if you publish it in Europe (or country X) then at least in theory you need to follow the local laws. How/if these would be enforced is another question. And yes I know your publishing tool probably does not even give you much control to which countries you start to export your product once you click Publish. Or is there any such at all?
BeetleB 7y ago
That would be a really bad idea - they'll be flooded with requests "because Lightroom has it". They specifically have stated they will not implement some items Lightroom has (specifically related to file/db management). It's a great software though.
bigbugbag 7y ago
To me this is a big failure where you advertise a larger competitor for free while not helping the clueless visitor trying to understand what your software does. I came to darktable website to learn what darktable does not that there is another piece software that I do not know which does a somewhat similar thing but in a different manner. not only this is not helping the clueless visitor, but it is advertising a major competitor and shows your software as being inferior to this commercial competitor. IMHO not mentioning lightroom is a smart move, I discovered darktable without having any knowledge of lightroom for the simple reason that adode products do not exist on Linux. Also I should mention that I use darktable as an alternative to gimp which I chose as an alternative to photoshop 5 when I made the switch to linux. This to point out that you should not presume of how people use software either, expecially with software that can cover some many different uses as photoshop.
- somebadguy 7y ago
  Christ but you seem like a moron
- StavrosK 7y ago
  I don't really agree with your point. Anyone who does photography even in passing will probably have heard of Lightroom, and the mere word tells them exactly what to expect. I'd take "like Lightroom, but FOSS and on Linux" over two paragraphs any day.
  - ygra 7y ago
    Both options also don't contradict each other. Two sentences that tell unaware people what to expect and another sentence to compare against what everyone who already uses such software already knows by name.

It should also say that it fulfills the same purpose Adobe Lightroom does. I think this would help a lot of people. It’s not an alternative for photoshop for example.

seanhunter 7y ago

They probably specifically don't say that to avoid potential copyright issues. Depending on jurisdiction (I'm thinking specifically UK and EU here) you can't actually say that about a competitive product without encountering problems.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
niknetniko 7y ago
I'm note sure about the EU part, because in Belgium you can mention competitors, e.g. "Darktable aims to fulfil the same need as Lightroom" is absolutely allowed, without problems. There aren't even rules specifically for mentioning competitors, it's about comparisons in general. For example, saying your product is "the best on the market" counts as a comparison, and you'll need proof to back up your statements.
- brudgers 7y ago
  Even a lawsuit without merit would require lawyering up and suck scarce time and energy. Adobe has deep pockets and lawyers on staff. Darktable has volunteers.
  - pdabbadabba 7y ago
    By this logic, they probably should have picked a different name.
  - StavrosK 7y ago
    You can file a lawsuit without merit about anything, you don't need merit.
    - brudgers 7y ago
      I agree. I think never mentioning Lightroom is a way of steering clear of meritorious suits and reduces the likelihood of a frivolous one...since even a frivolous lawsuit could be fatal. Anyway, "here is our cool thing" is probably organizationally healthier than "us against evil corp."
big_chungus 7y ago
The darktable guys can't just release it under American copyright law? So long as the site and source are hosted by American companies, they wouldn't have to worry about other nations' rules.
- peterjussi 7y ago
  I wouldn't count on it. As long as the product is available and marketed in other countries they can get caught in legal issues for not following those countries laws relating to marketing and offering of products.
  - big_chungus 7y ago
    Darktable is open source, though; it's not really offering a commercial product. Besides, what will eurocrats do if they determine a copyright issue? It's not as though there will be any earnings to garnish, worst-case scenario. If I (an American) publish a software project, Euro trademark law doesn't apply to me.
    - jaakl 7y ago
      Legally does it really matter what is your specific price point or development model? Also it does nor matter what is your residency, if you publish it in Europe (or country X) then at least in theory you need to follow the local laws. How/if these would be enforced is another question. And yes I know your publishing tool probably does not even give you much control to which countries you start to export your product once you click Publish. Or is there any such at all?

BeetleB 7y ago

That would be a really bad idea - they'll be flooded with requests "because Lightroom has it". They specifically have stated they will not implement some items Lightroom has (specifically related to file/db management). It's a great software though.

bigbugbag 7y ago

To me this is a big failure where you advertise a larger competitor for free while not helping the clueless visitor trying to understand what your software does. I came to darktable website to learn what darktable does not that there is another piece software that I do not know which does a somewhat similar thing but in a different manner. not only this is not helping the clueless visitor, but it is advertising a major competitor and shows your software as being inferior to this commercial competitor. IMHO not mentioning lightroom is a smart move, I discovered darktable without having any knowledge of lightroom for the simple reason that adode products do not exist on Linux. Also I should mention that I use darktable as an alternative to gimp which I chose as an alternative to photoshop 5 when I made the switch to linux. This to point out that you should not presume of how people use software either, expecially with software that can cover some many different uses as photoshop.

somebadguy 7y ago
Christ but you seem like a moron
StavrosK 7y ago
I don't really agree with your point. Anyone who does photography even in passing will probably have heard of Lightroom, and the mere word tells them exactly what to expect. I'd take "like Lightroom, but FOSS and on Linux" over two paragraphs any day.
- ygra 7y ago
  Both options also don't contradict each other. Two sentences that tell unaware people what to expect and another sentence to compare against what everyone who already uses such software already knows by name.