[Gegl-developer] Converting Plug-ins from GIMP (despeckle)

[Gregg Hauser <ghausermarch gmail com>]

I'm considering converting existing GIMP plug-ins to use GEGL, looking 
initially at  despeckle.c

The algorithm changes the source buffer if "Recursive" mode is chosen.

Question: Is changing the source buffer returned by gegl_buffer_get 
acceptable?

Request for Comments: The basic algorithm in GIMP's despleckle chooses a 
pixel randomly from those pixels closest to the median in luminance, 
avoiding pixels above and below user specified levels of luminance. 
Colors may change as long as the luminance of the pixel chosen is close 
to median around the pixel being calculated. This seems like a disaster 
to me. The 3 channel median-blur.c algorithm in gegl/workshop seems a 
lot closer to what this plug-in should be than the original code in 
GIMP. The literature is full of other despeckle algorithms, some of 
which preserve detail better than the median technique. Some despeckle 
algorithms are appropriate for black and white images only.

Question: Does the 2.10 or 3.00 version of GIMP need to slavishly mimic 
the existing plug-ins?

- Gregg