[Gimp-developer] GIMP development- What's the point?

[C R <cajhne gmail com>]

I run a London Linux Meet, where a bunch of Linux and open source folks
have drinks and discuss Linux, and free software.

At the last meet I was showing off GIMP, as I often do when asked "what do
you do?" There's the usual ooohing and ahhing as I show what GIMP allows me
to do easily as a designer.

This time, I got a strange comment from a new visitor to our group. He said
"GIMP development? What's the point of that?" in a rather sarcastic tone.

In such cases I have to push down my annoyance with the tone and answer the
question properly, because I know such comments usually come from one of
two places:

a) User has tried GIMP, but didn't take time to learn enough to get past
things that aren't obvious.
b) User has heard that GIMP is hard to use, and is not an adequate tool for
professionals.

Both of these point of views are skewed, but I find all it takes is a short
walk-through and sometimes question answering about how to do what they
want. Most people just want a show, though. Someone to prove to them that
their preconceptions of GIMP are incorrect, or at least incomplete.

In this case, I opted to give the fireworks/show. My weapons of choice this
time included the unified transform tool, the handle-transform tool, and
the warp transform tool-
"Without development, we (designers/users) would not have these new
features, which will be released in the next version, and are available now
via the gimp-edge repo."

I love the change in expression. You can SEE the change from the sceptical
arm-foldedness, to hands-on hips, or chin-scratching that indicated not
only a change in perspective, but also imagining the possibilities.

"Without dedicated people constantly working to improve GIMP, we would not
have any of this, and nothing to look forward to. It's an incredible gift,
and allows us to work with complete freedom. It's there for the taking, for
the enjoyment of everyone. All one has to do is reach for it with patience
that is necessary for learning (any) complex and extremely powerful
graphics application."

I just wanted to again say thanks, and relay that even on days where it
seems no one has anything good to say about GIMP, you've got fans who
genuinely appreciate the work you do, and believe in what GIMP is, and
enjoy what it will become in the future with your tremendous efforts.

You're presently causing ooohs and ahhhs, in London. :)

The question: "What's the point?" is a curious one.
As a developer in the project, what are your reasons for working on GIMP?
What are your motivations? What do you enjoy most about it?

-C