On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 05:13:49AM +0100, mamboze wrote:

I find it strange that while compiled (binaries) of GIMP are provided for Mac and Windows users, Ubuntu users are rather abruptly advised to compile from source themselves. I can do this I suppose with some effort but the question I have is, why the discrimination against Ubuntu and other Linux users? Do I need to remind you guys that a lot of support for GIMP has come from the open source community?

As much as I'd like to tell you "Hey, switch to Fedora, because we've got it", the basic fact is that:

1. So does Ubuntu: https://apps.ubuntu.com/cat/applications/gimp/

and

2. The gimp docs clearly tell you how to install it for multiple Linux distributions. http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

The fundamental difference here isn't that Windows and Mac get special treatment. Instead, it's that with most Linux distributions, it's *built in*.

Matthew Miller           mattdm@mattdm.org          

On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 05:40:44AM +0100, mamboze wrote:

Ok, I'm running Ubuntu 11.10 and I have GIMP 2.6.11 I well understand that this is the version currently available from the Ubuntu Software Center and doing a "sudo apt-get install gimp" tells me I have the latest version already installed. So I think that kind of covers points 1 and 2 in the above.

And while we're talking about 'basic' facts, what I was commenting on was the 'basic' fact that while users on other platforms have access to GIMP 2.8 binaries, Ubuntu users (particularly 11.10) do not. Why?

Because that's the version of Gimp that's tested and built with that version of the operating system. If you want a newer version of Gimp, use a newer Ubuntu or a faster-moving Linux.

Or, if you're feeling adventurous, you could enable a PPA.

Matthew Miller           mattdm@mattdm.org          

And while we're talking about 'basic' facts, what I was commenting on was the
'basic' fact that while users on other platforms have access to GIMP 2.8
binaries, Ubuntu users (particularly 11.10) do not. Why?

It's kind of how the system works, you have the latest distro, you have have the latest gimps etc

And the reason for this is that gimp (and other programs) use supporting libraries, these libraries keep changing and unless your distro keeps those libraries up to date, you aint gonna get the latest gimp etc.

So the answer is that if you want the latest and greatest on an ancient distro, you have to build it yourself. You have to build the latest support libraries like GTK2 and all its dependencies. It is good occupational therapy and keeps you off the streets.

Generally though with terabyte hard drives, its easier to just assign another partition to another distro. Half an hour and you are up and running. Too easy

And lastly, it's not a gimp problem, it's a distro/packaging problem. Complain to them.

Owen

On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 8:40 AM, mamboze wrote:

And while we're talking about 'basic' facts, what I was commenting on was the 'basic' fact that while users on other platforms have access to GIMP 2.8 binaries, Ubuntu users (particularly 11.10) do not. Why?

Basic facts? OK :)

https://launchpad.net/~otto-kesselgulasch/+archive/gimp

Alexandre Prokoudine http://libregraphicsworld.org

On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 9:36 AM, mamboze wrote:

@owen I wouldn't have thought that 11.10 qualified as an 'ancient distro' unless I was on some kind of weird time warp :)

Anyhow, thanks to all for putting me in the picture. Just one question tho if I opt for 12.04 LTS, will later versions of GIMP run on it or am I looking at an approximately 12 month window for support?

Rather the latter. GIMP tends to occasionally pick latest GTK+ abnd glib libraries as dependencies.

Alexandre Prokoudine http://libregraphicsworld.org

On 12/11/2012 12:44 AM, Alexandre Prokoudine wrote:

On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 9:36 AM, mamboze wrote:

@owen I wouldn't have thought that 11.10 qualified as an 'ancient distro' unless I was on some kind of weird time warp :)

Anyhow, thanks to all for putting me in the picture. Just one question tho if I opt for 12.04 LTS, will later versions of GIMP run on it or am I looking at an approximately 12 month window for support?

Rather the latter. GIMP tends to occasionally pick latest GTK+ abnd glib libraries as dependencies.

It's times like this I am very glad that I stay "behind the curve" of new releases of software I use for production. Early next year I will be cleaning Ubuntu out and installing Mint, and GIMP 2.8 is a stock part in that distro, yay! I expect lots of minor annoyances and adjustments with the new OS but no show-stoppers with the GIMP.

:o)

Steve