Originally posted by GUB That is the usual generalisation we hear.
The one with the worst reputation is Gimp. There is two aspects that create this impression. One is the shear comprehensiveness of the program and the other is because it is free so inexperienced people check it out. They would be just as confused if they started with Photoshop as their first editor. As I said earlier I was viewing Affinity just last night for the first time and the flashy eye candy approach was every bit as confusing. .
I agree.
There's some truth that the
earlier versions of GIMP, Darktable and RawTherapee were a little scrappy and inconsistent in presentation, but they're very polished nowadays... more so than many a commercial package, I dare say. The only thing one might reasonably be overwhelmed by - at first - is just how many features are provided and power exposed; the "shear comprehensiveness" you mention. But the "too many cooks" aspect no longer shows through in the user interfaces for these tools... and the online documentation for them is excellent, for anyone who cares to read it...