[Windows] GIMP swallows the competition('s lib files.)
Okay, the better word might be "variant" or "spin-off."
Here's the scenario.
Before I installed my latest GIMP 2.6 in Windows (don't sweat it -- it's
been on my Ubuntu laptop since late April of 2010), I was using
GimPhoto. The splash to GIMP 2.6 at that time didn't like my video
configuration (Intel for Lenovo M55p -- those who have 1 will know what
I mean) and the splash at launch kept coming up invariably as an outline
with no graphic and no progress bar. GimPhoto's on the other hand did
not do this.
GimPhoto itself was missing the menu item "Show selection" in "View." I
was thinking, "What? Even MS (and in their day Mac- and Super-) Paint
have show/hide selection in a menu or on a button... somewhere. And this
tweak of Gimp 2.3 doesn't *have* it? Not working for me!" So I went back
to the tried and true, the authentic, the genuine, the GIMP.
Kept GimPhoto installed though, in case I got myself into one of those
frames of mind where I'm positive a visible splash trumps a missing menu
command by an ace and a queen. So I had a quick edit to do of a pic I
found on the Web; launched GP -- it rebuilt _its font cache. I thought,
"Okay, that's understandable: I've been doing some purging and
housecleaning myself, both with Windoze tools and third-party
alternatives. It makes sense that a GTK-enabled app would have to
reorient itself with Windows fonts as well as its slate of L/Unix ones.
Next thing I know, while the format 'engines' loaded fine, I got a
"Please insert disk in drive D:" and "Can't create preview" in
succession in open dialogs. So I exited and checked to see if the Real
Thing would have the same issue. Of course it didn't. I found out a
short time later that GP's /bin folder was missing the two libjpeg DLLs
that GIMP The Genuine Article's /bin folder had. So I took no chances;
work of a moment to copy them from one bin to the other. Then I was out
of GTGA in a shot, because I figured if no previews and a disk-insert
request every time I turned around was in store for me in GP, then it
was time to uninstall. No need; it loaded the DLLs and previews were
back in business. The drive-insert dummy calls I fixed via Disk
Management in Admin Tools.
Just thought I'd share this with the list in case anyone's inclined to
stray and use a "variant" or a "spin-off" in Windows.
BZT
