Re: [Gimp-developer] upload to Steam

[Simos Xenitellis <simos lists googlemail com>]

On Mon, Jul 6, 2015 at 10:16 PM, Sam Gleske <sam mxracer gmail com> wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 6, 2015 at 2:13 PM, Melissa Golobish <vataraven gmail com>
> wrote:
>
> > Not sure if it's possible or maybe this was even thought about, but could
> > someone upload Gimp to Steam?
> >
> > The team behind Blender has uploaded to Steam, and I think doing this would
> > allow for easier updates and community interaction, and could also make
> > sharing community plug-in easier
>
> It has been mentioned on the user list as well as the developer list.
>
> http://www.mail-archive.com/gimp-user-list%40gnome.org/msg04505.html
>
> http://www.mail-archive.com/gimp-developer-list%40gnome.org/msg04651.html
> (this thread has a lot of discussion)
>
> The TLDR at the time was developers didn't want to distribute through a
> proprietary platform or require users to have a Steam account to download.
>
> I was then, and still now, of the opinion it would be great to distribute
> through Steam in *addition* to our normal download channels for obtaining
> GIMP.  Some of the modelers and game mod developers use GIMP to create
> textures for their models.
>
> As it stands, I don't think Steam will be a considered distribution channel
> unless a core developer wishes to speak up with a change of opinion.  It
> would also require a contributor to get familiar with the Steam release
> process and provide steam releases as GIMP is released.

I had a look at those previous discussions. Those discussions talk
about Krita Gemini (2014),
http://store.steampowered.com/app/280680/
which is only for Windows and is available at a cost. The proceeds go
to the Krita Foundation.

Since then, Blender has also been made available on Steam,
http://store.steampowered.com/app/365670/
They have very positive reviews and are probably getting access to a
new demographic of new users.

Apart from the free (as 0€) Blender package, they also have a series
of videos for Game Asset Creation,
http://store.steampowered.com/app/373020/ that costs 9.99€. The
producer is the Blender Institute,
so it is another source of income for them.

It would make sense for GIMP to make it on Steam if,
1. GIMP can be usable for tasks relating to games, like making game assets.
2. anyone would be interested to provide training material (paid or
free) and would rather have an easy-to-install GIMP package on Steam.

It would require some effort to build a nice page on Steam like
Blender has, and also provide installation packages.

Simos