Re: [Gimp-developer] So, I got a part-time writing gig...

["Guillermo Espertino (Gez)" <gespertino gmail com>]

El 30/05/13 10:52, Pat David escribió:
> Hi guys,
>
> Not sure about the best place for this, so figured I would talk to this
> list about it.
>
> I recently became a part-time writer for PetaPixel.com (photography-centric
> site).  They do a fair amount of traffic with photographers, and as a
> long-time F/OSS user, I figured it might be a good opportunity to
> mention/share/promote the cause.

Hi Pat,

These are great news. As you said, it's a great opportunity to get extra 
exposure, but I'd like to add a couple of comments regarding the way of 
exposing our tools.

> I figure more exposure certainly can't hurt, and if it can be done in a
> context where our F/OSS tools are spoken about in a manner that considers
> them as on par or better than commercial offerings, even better.

Be careful when you describe our tools. Try to do it in a honest, 
objective manner. Sometimes we, as long time users and advocates of free 
software tend to make some mistakes, like overstating some advantages 
and hiding some disadvantages our software has.
I would avoid using stuff like "on par or better than" because it often 
calls for a flame war and we don't want that.
Also (I'm not sure if this applies to you, but still) the more we use 
free software, the less we use the other software. And it's easy to miss 
new stuff when you're not using that software anymore and it might 
happen that the comparison isn't accurate enough.

I love GIMP, I've been using it as my only image manipulation program 
for the last 6 or 7 years, and I have my reasons to use it, but I have 
to remember myself all the time (when talking to friends and colleages) 
that some things I find convenient or even great maybe aren't a big deal 
for other people, and things I got used to ignore/endure/workaround ARE 
a big deal for other people (high bit depth editing, non-destructive 
layer styles and adjustments, for instance).

I'm not sure if it is a good idea to mention that those annoyances will 
be fixed anytime soon (most of the historical issues are being addressed 
in the current development version and the rest are part of the roadmap 
for the next versions). The hard fact is that the current stable version 
of GIMP still has some limitations that can constrain the artistic 
freedom of a high end photographer.
Of course you and me and several other GIMP users have learned to use 
some workarounds and minimize the impact of those limitations but it's a 
good idea to keep in mind that some of our workarounds can be deal 
breakers for other users with high productivity in mind.

So, my advise is: stay true. Curb your enthusiasm and try to focus on 
the stuff that GIMP can do well.

Don't get me wrong. As I mentioned before, I love your tutorials because 
you do show a professional-grade usage of GIMP. You know your trade and 
I'm sure you'll do a great job, just please be very careful with the 
choice of words and comparisons.

> So, if anyone would like to see something in particular worked into an
> article, either a feature or technique, that I can write against something
> a bit broader in the photography world, I'd love to hear it!  I'll do what
> I can to raise awareness, even if only small steps at a time.

I think the kind of stuff you show in your tutorials is good. I can't 
think of a specific subject right now, but I guess that any 
photo-related procedure explained in the way you do in your blog will be 
fine.

Cheers,

Gez.