OpenSuse the best linux for Photographers?

tuco · 12-08-2011, 05:53 PM

Does digiKam open and edit a DNG file with a partial implementation of Adobe's DNG spec?

Last edited by tuco; 12-08-2011 at 06:20 PM.

deejjjaaaa · 12-08-2011, 08:18 PM

Originally posted by br.davidson

Do you have a good RAW workflow for Linux that you can suggest? I was close to switching, but being without Lightroom gave me withdrawal.

assemble hackintosh pc, put OS X (very cheap) and rpp (Raw Photo Processor (RPP) - donationware) and pixelmator ( Pixelmator - very cheap)... why do you need to waste your time on linux and its half usable set of half done tools for photographers ? miss shell ? OS X has it.

**rm2** · 12-08-2011, 08:30 PM

Originally posted by tuco

Does digiKam open and edit a DNG file with a partial implementation of Adobe's DNG spec?

See this thread:

Digikam simple digital photo management application user mailing list

**rm2** · 12-08-2011, 08:37 PM

Originally posted by deejjjaaaa

assemble hackintosh pc, put OS X (very cheap) and rpp (Raw Photo Processor (RPP) - donationware) and pixelmator ( Pixelmator - very cheap)... why do you need to waste your time on linux and its half usable set of half done tools for photographers ? miss shell ? OS X has it.

Nice flame bait. Ha ha. The truth is that all software is unfinished. But, the state of Linux software is certainly not bad, and for sure it is not a waste of time. And it just keeps getting better. But hey, to each its own.

tuco · 12-08-2011, 08:49 PM

Originally posted by rm2

See this thread:

Digikam simple digital photo management application user mailing list

I really didn't see the answer in there. Did I miss something? The situation is scanning film with VueScan to a DNG file. This file is not the same as digital DNG and is not a full implementation.

Lightroom will open and edit a file with a partial implementation of a DNG spec and Aperture will not, for example. And since I scan medium and large format BW film, I had to get Lightroom at the time.

pentup · 12-08-2011, 09:01 PM

I used to use a number of flavors of Linux (mostly Debian based), but for some reason I could never get the display to my liking, on any monitor. Never could get gradients to display well.

**newmikey** · 12-08-2011, 11:10 PM

Guys, guys! (and deejjjaaaa of course) The original question was "OpenSuse the best linux for Photographers?" not "Will all the Linux-bashers stand up and be counted?" or "What did not work for you when you tried Linux some time ago?"

If you cannot (for obvious reasons, you do not know any Linux well enough to tell) give an answer to the question of the original poster, why throw flamebait around? Want to ignite this forum? No way! You think Linux is cr@p? Fine, works for me !and you are welcome to your opinion

pentup · 12-09-2011, 05:11 AM

Originally posted by newmikey

"Will all the Linux-bashers stand up and be counted?" or "What did not work for you when you tried Linux some time ago?"

Oh for God's sake relax. I wasn't bashing Linux. And it's absurd for you to expect a thread asking if a given distro is the best among Linux distros not to discuss Linux in general.

**newmikey** · 12-09-2011, 05:33 AM

Originally posted by pentup

Oh for God's sake relax.

I am in an eternal state of Prana Bindu, no worries...

Quote:

I wasn't bashing Linux.

Technically you weren't no. But you were not very on-topic either, now were you?

Quote:

And it's absurd for you to expect a thread asking if a given distro is the best among Linux distros not to discuss Linux in general.

a)It is not absurd at all! Wouldn't you be rather surprised if I answered a thread asking about the best Windows version for photographers by launching a statement about how Windows never recognized my HP4100C scanner?
b)the thread did not ask whether "a given distro is the best among Linux distros", it asked of those photographers who use Linux which distro they prefer after which you answer that you were never successful in properly setting up your screen in Linux.

To each his own though, it seems people feel exceptionally threatened whenever the subject Linux is breached. Don't be! No need! Windows rulez! Just humor us and let us play around a bit...

pentup · 12-09-2011, 05:51 AM

Originally posted by newmikey

To each his own though, it seems people feel exceptionally threatened whenever the subject Linux is breached.

They sure do. You proved that.

Originally posted by newmikey

after which you answer that you were never successful in properly setting up your screen in Linux.

Actually I was. For my purposes at the time. But with inconsistent results, depending on the video cards, drivers and monitors in question. And on how much time I wanted to put into fiddling with stuff. Most of the time seeing banding in gradients wasn't a deal breaker for me.

Originally posted by newmikey

b)the thread did not ask whether "a given distro is the best among Linux distros",

Yes, I neglected to add for photographers to that. My bad.

Originally posted by newmikey

Windows rulez!

Get over such childish fanboyism. I've used OS X, Windows, FreeBSD and numerous *nixes, and they all have their points, good and not so good.

Originally posted by newmikey

Just humor us and let us play around a bit...

Fine, I'll humor you. Keep playing.

**newmikey** · 12-09-2011, 05:59 AM

Originally posted by pentup

Actually I was. For my purposes at the time. But with inconsistent results, depending on the video cards, drivers and monitors in question. And on how much time I wanted to put into fiddling with stuff. Most of the time seeing banding in gradients wasn't a deal breaker for me.

So without knowing whether this was one or ten years ago and without knowing how many "video cards, drivers and monitors" you went through or what you actually did or failed to do, how is this an answer to the OP's question?

Quote:

Get over such childish fanboyism. I've used OS X, Windows, FreeBSD and numerous *nixes, and they all have their points, good and not so good.

Well, ditto to that as far as I'm concerned. So IS, according to you, OpenSUSE the best linux for photographers, or not? I still don't see you answering the question...or it would have to be "there is no best linux for photographers". Is that what you actually wanted to say?

[EDIT]
P.S. I've actually used OpenSuse10 and most versions before it from 7 onwards and I do not find it the best linux for photographers mostly due to the way it deals with configuration files through YAST2. It does have one of the most up-to-date repositories of software of all of the distros maybe except for the *buntu's of this world.

**rm2** · 12-09-2011, 07:22 AM

Originally posted by tuco

I really didn't see the answer in there. Did I miss something? The situation is scanning film with VueScan to a DNG file. This file is not the same as digital DNG and is not a full implementation.

Lightroom will open and edit a file with a partial implementation of a DNG spec and Aperture will not, for example. And since I scan medium and large format BW film, I had to get Lightroom at the time.

I thought maybe this post would shed some light:

Pentax PEF vs DNG in digikam

Gilles Caulier is the main digiKam developer. In this post he is talking about how digiKam converts PEF to DNG. He explains that digiKam does the conversion correctly, but that libraw, the library that digiKam uses to process raw files, is not yet optimized for processing DNG files.

From that, I deduce that when using digiKam to process DNG files, your results may not be optimum. But, I don' t think it will stop you from trying.

**rm2** · 12-09-2011, 07:30 AM

I don't mind discussing the merits or demerits of Linux and related software. However, lets be respectful. Lets avoid insults or disparaging comments. If we keep this a friendly grown up conversation we can all get something from it.

**paulh** · 12-09-2011, 07:31 AM

Originally posted by rm2

You are welcome. PCLinuxOS has not yet upgraded digiKam to the 2.x version. So, you may want to check it out in OpenSuse for now.

You're right - it's still at version 1.9. But there seems to be quite a few improvements since the last time I used it, so it's new *to me*. I'll be checking it out while I wait for the latest version to hit the PCLOS repos.

deejjjaaaa · 12-09-2011, 07:33 AM

Originally posted by rm2

But, the state of Linux software is certainly not bad

which software ? gimp which can't get to the normal 16bit processing for eons vs for example pixelmator where just 1 (one) developer did it ? commercial packages like Bibble may be not bad, but outside of that using Linux for a non IT background photographer (who is not interested in playing w/ Linux itself) is plain stupid

12-09-2011, 05:51 AM	#40
pentup Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Flushing NY Photos: Albums Posts: 413	Originally posted by newmikey To each his own though, it seems people feel exceptionally threatened whenever the subject Linux is breached. They sure do. You proved that. Originally posted by newmikey after which you answer that you were never successful in properly setting up your screen in Linux. Actually I was. For my purposes at the time. But with inconsistent results, depending on the video cards, drivers and monitors in question. And on how much time I wanted to put into fiddling with stuff. Most of the time seeing banding in gradients wasn't a deal breaker for me. Originally posted by newmikey b)the thread did not ask whether "a given distro is the best among Linux distros", Yes, I neglected to add for photographers to that. My bad. Originally posted by newmikey Windows rulez! Get over such childish fanboyism. I've used OS X, Windows, FreeBSD and numerous nixes, and they all have their points, good and not so good. Originally posted by newmikey Just humor us and let us play around a bit... Fine, I'll humor you. Keep playing. Last edited by pentup; 12-09-2011 at 05:57 AM.*

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12-08-2011, 05:53 PM	#31
tuco Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Pugetopolis Posts: 11,026	Does digiKam open and edit a DNG file with a partial implementation of Adobe's DNG spec? Last edited by tuco; 12-08-2011 at 06:20 PM.

12-08-2011, 08:18 PM	#32
deejjjaaaa Veteran Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: steel city / rust belt Posts: 2,043	Originally posted by br.davidson Do you have a good RAW workflow for Linux that you can suggest? I was close to switching, but being without Lightroom gave me withdrawal. assemble hackintosh pc, put OS X (very cheap) and rpp (Raw Photo Processor (RPP) - donationware) and pixelmator ( Pixelmator - very cheap)... why do you need to waste your time on linux and its half usable set of half done tools for photographers ? miss shell ? OS X has it.

12-08-2011, 08:30 PM	#33
rm2 Site Supporter Join Date: May 2007 Location: Hudson Valley - NY Posts: 778 Original Poster	Originally posted by tuco Does digiKam open and edit a DNG file with a partial implementation of Adobe's DNG spec? See this thread: Digikam simple digital photo management application user mailing list

12-08-2011, 08:37 PM	#34
rm2 Site Supporter Join Date: May 2007 Location: Hudson Valley - NY Posts: 778 Original Poster	Originally posted by deejjjaaaa assemble hackintosh pc, put OS X (very cheap) and rpp (Raw Photo Processor (RPP) - donationware) and pixelmator ( Pixelmator - very cheap)... why do you need to waste your time on linux and its half usable set of half done tools for photographers ? miss shell ? OS X has it. Nice flame bait. Ha ha. The truth is that all software is unfinished. But, the state of Linux software is certainly not bad, and for sure it is not a waste of time. And it just keeps getting better. But hey, to each its own.

12-08-2011, 08:49 PM	#35
tuco Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Pugetopolis Posts: 11,026	Originally posted by rm2 See this thread: Digikam simple digital photo management application user mailing list I really didn't see the answer in there. Did I miss something? The situation is scanning film with VueScan to a DNG file. This file is not the same as digital DNG and is not a full implementation. Lightroom will open and edit a file with a partial implementation of a DNG spec and Aperture will not, for example. And since I scan medium and large format BW film, I had to get Lightroom at the time.

12-08-2011, 09:01 PM	#36
pentup Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Flushing NY Photos: Albums Posts: 413	I used to use a number of flavors of Linux (mostly Debian based), but for some reason I could never get the display to my liking, on any monitor. Never could get gradients to display well.

12-08-2011, 11:10 PM	#37
newmikey Site Supporter Join Date: May 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,287	Guys, guys! (and deejjjaaaa of course) The original question was "OpenSuse the best linux for Photographers?" not "Will all the Linux-bashers stand up and be counted?" or "What did not work for you when you tried Linux some time ago?" If you cannot (for obvious reasons, you do not know any Linux well enough to tell) give an answer to the question of the original poster, why throw flamebait around? Want to ignite this forum? No way! You think Linux is cr@p? Fine, works for me !and you are welcome to your opinion

12-09-2011, 05:11 AM	#38
pentup Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Flushing NY Photos: Albums Posts: 413	Originally posted by newmikey "Will all the Linux-bashers stand up and be counted?" or "What did not work for you when you tried Linux some time ago?" Oh for God's sake relax. I wasn't bashing Linux. And it's absurd for you to expect a thread asking if a given distro is the best among Linux distros not to discuss Linux in general.

12-09-2011, 05:33 AM	#39
newmikey Site Supporter Join Date: May 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,287	Originally posted by pentup Oh for God's sake relax. I am in an eternal state of Prana Bindu, no worries... Quote: I wasn't bashing Linux. Technically you weren't no. But you were not very on-topic either, now were you? Quote: And it's absurd for you to expect a thread asking if a given distro is the best among Linux distros not to discuss Linux in general. a)It is not absurd at all! Wouldn't you be rather surprised if I answered a thread asking about the best Windows version for photographers by launching a statement about how Windows never recognized my HP4100C scanner? b)the thread did not ask whether "a given distro is the best among Linux distros", it asked of those photographers who use Linux which distro they prefer after which you answer that you were never successful in properly setting up your screen in Linux. To each his own though, it seems people feel exceptionally threatened whenever the subject Linux is breached. Don't be! No need! Windows rulez! Just humor us and let us play around a bit...

12-09-2011, 05:59 AM	#41
newmikey Site Supporter Join Date: May 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,287	Originally posted by pentup Actually I was. For my purposes at the time. But with inconsistent results, depending on the video cards, drivers and monitors in question. And on how much time I wanted to put into fiddling with stuff. Most of the time seeing banding in gradients wasn't a deal breaker for me. So without knowing whether this was one or ten years ago and without knowing how many "video cards, drivers and monitors" you went through or what you actually did or failed to do, how is this an answer to the OP's question? Quote: Get over such childish fanboyism. I've used OS X, Windows, FreeBSD and numerous nixes, and they all have their points, good and not so good. Well, ditto to that as far as I'm concerned. So IS, according to you, OpenSUSE the best linux for photographers, or not? I still don't see you answering the question...or it would have to be "there is no best linux for photographers". Is that what you actually wanted to say? [EDIT] P.S. I've actually used OpenSuse10 and most versions before it from 7 onwards and I do not find it the best linux for photographers mostly due to the way it deals with configuration files through YAST2. It does have one of the most up-to-date repositories of software of all of the distros maybe except for the buntu's of this world.

12-09-2011, 07:22 AM	#42
rm2 Site Supporter Join Date: May 2007 Location: Hudson Valley - NY Posts: 778 Original Poster	Originally posted by tuco I really didn't see the answer in there. Did I miss something? The situation is scanning film with VueScan to a DNG file. This file is not the same as digital DNG and is not a full implementation. Lightroom will open and edit a file with a partial implementation of a DNG spec and Aperture will not, for example. And since I scan medium and large format BW film, I had to get Lightroom at the time. I thought maybe this post would shed some light: Pentax PEF vs DNG in digikam Gilles Caulier is the main digiKam developer. In this post he is talking about how digiKam converts PEF to DNG. He explains that digiKam does the conversion correctly, but that libraw, the library that digiKam uses to process raw files, is not yet optimized for processing DNG files. From that, I deduce that when using digiKam to process DNG files, your results may not be optimum. But, I don' t think it will stop you from trying.

12-09-2011, 07:30 AM	#43
rm2 Site Supporter Join Date: May 2007 Location: Hudson Valley - NY Posts: 778 Original Poster	I don't mind discussing the merits or demerits of Linux and related software. However, lets be respectful. Lets avoid insults or disparaging comments. If we keep this a friendly grown up conversation we can all get something from it.

12-09-2011, 07:31 AM	#44
paulh Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: DFW Texas/Ventura County, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 33,262	Originally posted by rm2 You are welcome. PCLinuxOS has not yet upgraded digiKam to the 2.x version. So, you may want to check it out in OpenSuse for now. You're right - it's still at version 1.9. But there seems to be quite a few improvements since the last time I used it, so it's new to me. I'll be checking it out while I wait for the latest version to hit the PCLOS repos.

12-09-2011, 07:33 AM	#45
deejjjaaaa Veteran Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: steel city / rust belt Posts: 2,043	Originally posted by rm2 But, the state of Linux software is certainly not bad which software ? gimp which can't get to the normal 16bit processing for eons vs for example pixelmator where just 1 (one) developer did it ? commercial packages like Bibble may be not bad, but outside of that using Linux for a non IT background photographer (who is not interested in playing w/ Linux itself) is plain stupid