[ubuntu-studio-users] GIMP 2.10.6 - Was: [ubuntu-studio-devel] Cosmic Release Notes

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Thu, 18 Oct 2018 21:24:08 +0000, Erich Eickmeyer wrote:
>this seems like stuff that belongs in a bug report      

The bugs do so, but not the backwards compatibility information.

So here's a last related mail with some information.

A package allows the user to see what XCF version is used:

  https://packages.ubuntu.com/cosmic/xcftools

Available for other distros, too, at least for Arch Linux provided by
the AUR, so I don't need to restart my computer now.

An issue are XCF version 11 files, since GIMP 2.8 can't open those
files.

[rocketmouse at archlinux ~]$ xcfinfo ~/Pictures/music/tonleiter_c_am-pentatonik.xcf 
Warning: XCF version 11 not supported (trying anyway...)
Version 11, 1640x525 RGB color, 0 layers, compressed None

When storing a file with GIMP 2.10.6, it's possible to store it in
legacy mode.

  Windows > Dockable Dialogs > Layers

Select the layer (or one layer by another, I tested with a single layer only)
and in the "Mode" bar, click the right dropdown menu, to change from
"Default" to "Legacy", then safe the file (if needed by a new name).

[rocketmouse at archlinux ~]$ xcfinfo ~/Pictures/music/tonleiter_c_am-pentatonik.legacy.layer.xcf 
Version 0, 1640x525 RGB color, 1 layers, compressed RLE
+ 1640x525+0+0 RGB-alpha Normal Pasted Layer

For testing purpose I downgrade GIMP to 2.8.22, it can't open the
version 11 file, but despite a lot of soname issues (I didn't downgrade the
dependenicies, too), it can open the file saved with 2.10.6.

IOW it's possible to share files stored with cosmic's version of
GIMP, with other users, who e.g. stay with an Ubuntu Studio LTS.