[Gimp-user] To the GIMP team - in need of an old version

[Jacques Le Fèvre <jlf29 laposte net>]

It often happens that newer versions of software don't work as well as 
previous ones. GIMP is unfotunately no exception.

I have two versions: GIMP 2.4.0-rc3, installed on an old laptop running 
under Ubuntu 7.10, and GIMP 2.10.14 installed on a desktop running under 
LinuxMint 19 Cinnamon 32 bits. I chosed the latter because, after my 
problem with GIMP is solved, I plan to install the same sytem on the 
laptop as on the desktop, and I am not sure that the laptop processor 
can accommodate a 64 bit system.

There are some tasks that are much easier or much quicker to perform 
with GIMP 2.4 than with GIMP 2.10. For some serious image editing, I 
still therefore need using the old version, and this prevents me from 
updating the system on the laptop. Which would also be a need, because 
its old version of Firefox, for instance, cannot access some sites, so 
that I cannot use the laptop on travel. Its only use at the moment is 
image editing with GIMP 2.4 when the latter is more efficient than 
GIMP 2.10.

What works better on the old GIMP version:

- The freehand selection tool: I need it very much to correct defects on 
scanned slides. See attached example.

Closing the selected area on GIMP 2.4 takes only a release of the mouse 
button. On GIMP 2.10, you need reaching the very pixel you started from, 
and failing to do this puts you in trouble, difficult to escape from. 
Using many times the tool for fully correcting one picture requires much 
more time, and implies more potential errors, on GIMP 2.10 than on GIMP 
2.4. It is not better when you need closing the selected area with a 
straight line. On GIMP 2.4 you still need only releasing the mouse 
button. On GIMP 2.10, it takes two of three clicks. On GIMP 2.4, when 
you have performed some task (e.g. brightness or contrast editing) on a 
freehand selected area, you just need clicking elsewhere for being able 
to freehand select another area. On GIMP 2.10, it does not work. The 
only solution I have found is switching to another selection tool 
(square), clicking somewhere to close the freehand selected area, then 
revert to the free-hand selection tool.

- The text tool: On GIMP 2.4, you can directly and continuously adjust 
the font size so that it fits to the background. On GIMP 2.10, you have 
to adjust the size of the layer. In practice, you make it too large for 
beginning, try a reduction, find that it is not convenient, revert to 
the larger size, try another reduction, and so on. As a result, what 
takes about 5 seconds with GIMP 2.4 may take up to 3 minutes with GIMP 
2.10.

I have produced this picture:
http://merleblanc-brest.org/images/planmax.jpg
on the laptop with GIMP 2.4. Because of the drawbacks, both with the 
freehand selection tool and the text tool, it would have been 
unpractical to perform the task with GIMP 2.10.

- Saving pictures: With GIMP 2.10, this can be done only to .xcf, which 
is recognised by no other software, so that such images cannot be used 
on the web or included in documents. In addition, this flavour of .xcf 
is not recognised by earlier versions of GIMP. You have to export the 
final result of editing to other formats, and this does not always work 
properly to TIFF files. With GIMP 2.4, on the other hand, you can 
directly save pictures to other formats, including the one of the input 
file (TIFF from my scanners). In addition, the colour space in GIMP 2.4 
is the same as on my scanners, which is not the case in GIMP 2.10.

- CTRL-F: In GIMP 2.4, it repeats the last filter, in GIMP 2.10 it 
repeats the last tool with the same settings, which is rarely 
appropriate. This also slows down the kind of image editing I use to 
perform.

On the other hand, GIMP 2.10 has some useful features lacking in 
GIMP 2.4, such as the abilty to edit separately highlights and shadows.

I would therefore like to install both versions on the same system. I am 
reluctant to try newer versions of GIMP, because these are provided 
through flatpak. And an unsatisfactory piece of software from that 
source cannot be uninstalled otherwise than reformatting the hard disk 
and reinstalling everything else. This is what I plan to do if I have to 
rely only on GIMP 2.4 and get rid of GIMP 2.10.

I have recovered from the GIMP site the source code for GIMP-2.4.0, 
GIMP-2.4.3 and GIMP-2.4.7, but I failed to compile any of them, while I 
have successfully compiled other software (e.g. scanner drivers) from 
TAR archives. This may be because GIMP archives are tar.bz2 rather than 
tar.gz, or because some pieces of software are lacking in the TAR archives.

CONCLUSION. I would therefore be happy with:

- A .deb file that would enable me to easily install GIMP 2.4 on 
LinuxMint 19. Or at least a TAR archive I could compile

- Clear and complete instructions for also installing GIMP 2.10 (or a 
more recent version) on the same system, if this is possible (otherwise 
than importing it from flatpak). If not, my choice is using only GIMP 2.4

I am ready to make a donation in exchange for this service.

-------------------------
Jacques LE FÈVRE
2 impasse du Merle Blanc
29200 BREST
FRANCE
+33 6 12 59 36 97
-------------------------