Installing GIMPshop and fighting with Synaptic

[Eric Dunbar]

On 2/9/06, Eric Dunbar <eric.dunbar at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2/9/06, dan <hentaidan at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 09/02/06, Eric Dunbar <eric.dunbar at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > i.e. all Gimpshop appears to be (at least to me) is Gimp with a
> > > different set of preferences... perhaps there are some other
> > > differences?
> >
> > All I noticed was that "Dialogues" was renamed "Windows", but I didnt
> > look too hard..

Apparently what the author has done is rearranged the menu structure
and names to better conform to Photoshop's conventions (I did find the
behaviour of some of GIMP's menu items quite odd).

He needs to be commended for his work, and, hopefully someday his
labours will be redundant; i.e. GIMP will incorporate a preference
which allows users to use either a Photoshop-like menu structure &
shortcuts selection (GIMPshop) or the "traditional" GIMP menu
structure/shortcuts.

PS I don't think GIMP should throw out the baby with the bathwater!
Photoshop isn't the most "approachable" of apps and certainly
shouldn't be copied in the finest detail, BUT, it is THE standard for
professional (and amateur) graphics users.

As such, it would be very helpful to switchers or casual GIMP users if
they don't have to combine learning a whole new interface [1] whilst
getting used to a whole new set of keyboard short cuts.

[1] The GIMP interface is pretty half-assed... GIMP could certainly do
better than all the #$!%!$# windows it has now.

I'm quite optimistic about GIMP now... I suspect that in a few years
GIMP will start to offer something which will surpass Photoshop in
terms of ease of use [2] (it'll be _many_ years before GIMP starts to
approach Photoshop's speed, however :-( :-( :-(

[2] Right now they're both pretty user-hostile, but for different
reasons. Photoshop's become too complex, and GIMP hasn't been around
long enough to simplify the interface properly.

Eric.