Re: [Gimp-developer] Gimp on Steam

[Sam Gleske <sam mxracer gmail com>]

Personally I'd use the Steam version of Gimp if it were available.  Sure,
the on-the-fly updates are no problem for a Linux edition of Steam.  But on
Mac and Windows there's no such auto-updating functionality (due to the
drawbacks of the OS) and GIMP rightly does not try to fill that gap.

In addition to the auto-updates on Windows, a neat statistic would be how
much time I spend in the program.  They track other usage statistics but to
me that would be the most interesting.

Also, Steam allows DRM free packages (i.e. you install via steam but you
can take the software out of steam and run it without steam even if steam
is not installed or running).  So I think no modification would be required
from a developers perspective.  It would just require the headache of a
packager.

I'm not sure the Gimp userbase as it stands would much benefit (unless they
play PC games and use Steam) but on an average daily basis there's more
than 5 million users logged into Steam using the distribution platform.
The largest of it's kind.  I think it would bring steam to a wider audience
with little to no effort in the long run just by simply existing on Steam.
I think a good approach might be to "wait and see" with what Krita does and
ask Krita members for feedback on their experience with Steam.  If it's
positive I see no reason not to do it.