OMEN
12-08-2009, 05:57 PM
Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux operating system has been absolutely game changing in the way it has taken the previously complicated world of Linux distros and simplified it for mass consumption. In fact, it can be easy to forget how convoluted Linux distros were before Ubuntu came along with its easy software updates and Live CDs that allowed potential toe-wetteners to try the OS on any computer, without every having to compile a kernel. Every other mainstream Linux distro has pretty much followed in Ubuntu’s footsteps now.
But steap into the halls of Canonical’s bi-annually hosted Ubuntu Developer’s Conference, and you’ll learn something quickly: as simple and intuitive as Ubuntu might seem, every decision is agonized over. It even goes as far as deciding what programs are provided by default along with an initial Ubuntu install. At the last Ubuntu Developer’s Conference, the Ubuntu development community made a monumental decision: they would stop shipping Ubuntu with the GIMP (or GNU Image Manipulation Tool) software, Linux’s main answer to PhotoShop.
The rationale is pretty simple: GIMP isn’t like Microsoft’s Paint. It’s like Photoshop, and as much as people might like Photoshop, providing a program as complicated as a Photoshop clone along with a beginner-friendly Linux distro makes no sense. Even the GIMP developers agree. “”That is pretty much in-line with our product vision. GIMP is a high-end application for professionals. It is not the tool that you would advise every user to use for their casual photo editing,” they wrote.
GIMP will, of course, still be freely available for download onto Ubuntu systems, but it’s an interesting development: GIMP has shipped with Ubuntu from the beginning. It just won’t be the same without it.
Ars Technica
But steap into the halls of Canonical’s bi-annually hosted Ubuntu Developer’s Conference, and you’ll learn something quickly: as simple and intuitive as Ubuntu might seem, every decision is agonized over. It even goes as far as deciding what programs are provided by default along with an initial Ubuntu install. At the last Ubuntu Developer’s Conference, the Ubuntu development community made a monumental decision: they would stop shipping Ubuntu with the GIMP (or GNU Image Manipulation Tool) software, Linux’s main answer to PhotoShop.
The rationale is pretty simple: GIMP isn’t like Microsoft’s Paint. It’s like Photoshop, and as much as people might like Photoshop, providing a program as complicated as a Photoshop clone along with a beginner-friendly Linux distro makes no sense. Even the GIMP developers agree. “”That is pretty much in-line with our product vision. GIMP is a high-end application for professionals. It is not the tool that you would advise every user to use for their casual photo editing,” they wrote.
GIMP will, of course, still be freely available for download onto Ubuntu systems, but it’s an interesting development: GIMP has shipped with Ubuntu from the beginning. It just won’t be the same without it.
Ars Technica