[wplug] GIMP demos and Windows/Linux and Art Issues

[Steve Kudlak]

Mark Dalrymple wrote:

> > Most people learn GIMP as far as
> > I can tell from other people in what I call true Guild
> > Style.
>
> I'd *love* to see GIMP demonstration at a GUM or a tutorial, getting some
> hands-on advice from an Expert (or at least more expert than me)
>
> Any brave souls out there that want a free lunch?  :-)
>
> ++Mark Dalrymple, markd at badgertronics.com.  http://badgertronics.com
>   "Beer is just liquid bread - lasts longer without rotting, a great way to
>    preserve grain for future consumption."
>     -- dhogaza
>
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Yeah that I would love to see too. I don't know if I am quite the
expert at this point. I have done a moderate amount of art in GIMP
but have not approached the level of the neat stuff in GIMP The
Official Handbook by Kylander and Kylander. That stuff is pretty
eyepopping and it would make most graphic arts types sit up and notice.

My quasi-secret agenda:) is to have GIMP for Windows and GIMP
Linux Standard running side by side and I could demo GIMP in both
environements and seeing the ....dare I say the word...uh, hmmm...uh,
interoperability they would be convinced.

Linux is getting big enough that I think we (hmmm I said "we" so you
now know my hearts at) will cruise by worries about another Amiga
Disaster. This is a little far afield but important. When the Amiga came
out some years ago it really caught on among art types. It was affordable
and the MAC, which was and is nice,  was not. There was lots of shareware
and downright freewaare. There were good drawing programs, electronic
drawing boards, a raytrace programs and more. Video "toasters" were
being demo'd, people were talking about SMPTE encoding for video
editing and NTSC and color standards and the like. It looked like it was
going to really revolutionize the whole concept of doing art and music
by computers and bring it down from the AMPEX world of literally
millions of dollars pieces of equipment where one hopes to sell one
to ABC, another to NBC and maybe couple to PBS and maybe the CBC
up in the Great White North Might by some too. Good Graphic Arts tools
for all types of things were going to become available at a fraction of
the usual cost at the time. Because of that, art production, music production
and video production and maybe even film production would be
more widely available. Some of us were working on "ray trace movies"
we hoped would be worthy of showing at SIGRAPH and the like. We read
ACM Graphics journals and grumbled that a certain film studio in San Rafael
"stole" many good computer graphics people...

But all of that vanished due to Commodore being kind of inept.
Now having gone on for way too long...My hope is that the Linux
and Open Source will avoid all of this. Indeed there are graphics folks
other than me that remember and worry about these things. Being that
Linux is not bound to any particular manufacturer it looks like it
is going to be much better. Linux has survived many things like the
stock market meltdown and is still doing well.

Hmmm...I am preaching to the choir again, funny how that happens.
But I am getting ready to make Linux noises at several small press
and graphic arts conventions that I plan to attend in 2003. I have used
linux systems and other *nix systems and have done publication type
stuff on them and it was far superior to doing things under flakey
Windows. I think a GIMP Plus with an Intro Manual by someone
who has done graphic arts and getting graphic arts people to work
with it would be a great thing.

I know this is all highly non-technical but it is what I face, and what
I feel one would face, when one presents GIMP to the graphic arts
world. I feel a little cautious about just giving a demo in a month,
but after a bit more working with GIMP and planning the outline
of an intro I might be more sure of myself. Note I will probably
concentrate more on Freehand techniques and the like because that
more than scanning is what lots of graphic arts types do.

I am sorry to have gone on so long...I will try to keep it shorter
and more succinct in the future but I was hoping I could explicate
what goes on whenever I try to pitch GIMP to graphic arts types.
And I have gained points that  GIMP is real and it will survive
because it does work in both Linux and Windows. This also helps
convince people Linux is real too. Luckily from memories or stories
they know that Open Software and "The Bazaar" method of
development is real... Yep I am becoming a long winded GIMP
evangelist! :) I'll try to curb the long winded part.