• dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    56
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    5 months ago

    No, GIMP does suck.

    It has the same problem as most FOSS packages that are too wide in breadth and have multiple contributors with their own hobby horses pulling in all different directions, and to this day does not actually provide a feature-complete whole, nor an interface that actually makes sense. And it’s not a matter of the workflow just being different – it categorically fails to replicate functionality that is core to its commercial competitors. Numerous other “big” productivity packages have the same problem including FreeCAD (boy does it ever), LibreOffice, etc. I say this as a staunch supporter of FreeCAD, by the way. It’s the only CAD software I use even though it’s a pain in my ass.

    The shining exception to this I see is Inkscape, but it is still significantly less powerful than even early versions of CorelDraw.

    For 2D graphics work these days, I hold my nose and just use Corel. I use it for work. Like, actual commercial work. That I get paid for. It is at least a lesser evil than doing business with Adobe.

    And if you want to stick it to the man, it is easily pirated.

      • Hucklebee@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        20
        ·
        edit-2
        5 months ago

        I always wondered if I could contribute/volunteer to a FOSS somehow with some UIX stuff, but I don’t even know where to start. Would you just draw a concept ui for the team to work out or something?

        Not that I’m great at it, but man, we gotta start somewhere, right?

        • Schmeckinger@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          5 months ago

          This is probably common. The people that work on UI often aren’t the people who do pull requests. But I think if you want to contribute it would be best to get in touch with a maintainer on the chat of the project. Projects often have a matrix/irc/discord on the git page.

        • bitfucker@programming.dev
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          5 months ago

          I think you can start a figma or other collaborative UI/UX as an idea first. If a developer is interested in implementing it, then you move on to the next feature

      • ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        5 months ago

        There’s also two main plus one lesser issue that are less commonly discussed:

        1. Lack of manpower. FOSS devs often doing it as a side project on top of some other and/or a full-time job, so that even lowers one’s ability of concentrate on stuff like the UI, when you’re already working hard on fixing bugs, looking up things (which is getting harder and harder thanks to AI slop - I once managed to destroy a Linux on my Raspberry Pi while trying to adjust the path variables).
        2. Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable parts of your application. There are many times I haven’t noticed a a very uncomfortable part of my GUI after months of use, then I had to refactor things, which obviously took time away from other things. This also affects the users already in the userbase.

        Elitism is also a factor. A lot of people like the feeling of being part of a special group, and for them, the steep learning curve is a feature, not a bug. I’ve seen Blender users being angry at the devs for “spoonfeeding” the normies, and letting in all kinds of people. Also just look at OP’s image.

      • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        5 months ago

        This never ceases to amaze me.

        My old best friend and I used to be a programming tag team that worked pretty well; he’d slap together w semi-functional version of the idea we had and then id go in and make the UI make sense and fix all the logic bugs and typos.

        I’m not saying I’m some perfect UI guru or anything but the way he (and other people I’ve met) seem to have no internal base knowledge of shit like “similar settings probably shouldn’t go on completely opposite sides of the screen under different menus” or “5-deep nested drop-down menus hurt people’s souls”

        • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          5 months ago

          Honestly I still struggle a lot with this. I can click around a UI and feel what might confuse a user, but building a UI from scratch feels like such a shot in the dark.

      • Holzkohlen@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        7
        ·
        5 months ago

        So, why do UI people not use and contribute to FOSS then? Are they all on Mac? Then go complain to them or contribute your desired UI improvements. FOSS isn’t an all you can eat buffet.

        Personally, I think UI people are less idealistic and I do look down on them for that.

        • OhNoMoreLemmy@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          12
          ·
          5 months ago

          It’s super hard to get involved as a UI person. If you’re a developer, you can just rock up to a project and fix bugs, and if you follow the coding style they’ll probably get accepted.

          If you want to successfully contribute as a UI person you have to convince a bunch of developers that you know what they should be doing better than they do. It basically never happens.

    • AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      5 months ago

      Blender is also great, probably because it has organized teams, meetings, ongoing large projects, deadlines, etc

    • grue@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      5 months ago

      I’ve worked professionally both using and developing (proprietary) CAD software, but even I have trouble getting FreeCAD to do what I want.

      • BCsven@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        5 months ago

        Same. I have used SolidWorks, SolidEdge, CATIA and Unigraphics/NX…freecad just frustrated me

    • Pennomi@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      Oh god FreeCAD is a nightmare to learn. But it does get work done. I wish Blender could move more into that space.

      Inkscape is lovely but imo it could use some interface cleanup. (And really it has been getting better each major update.)

    • frezik@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      5 months ago

      KiCAD has also improved greatly over the last few years. It still has an opinion on how the work flow should be, but that work flow moves pretty well. It’s gotten easier to find pre-made footprints, too.

      If only library management didn’t suck.