horses for courses

On 2015-05-15, Floyd L. Davidson wrote:
Whiskers wrote:
On 2015-05-15, Floyd L. Davidson wrote:
android wrote:
In article , (Floyd L.
Davidson) wrote:

android wrote:
In article , (Floyd L.
Davidson) wrote:

[...]

Exactly!

Which window manager do you use? I've been using FVWM2
since it came out (FVWM before that). I use 15 virtual
terminals, several of which are devoted to web browsers.
All but a couple of them run an XTERM with a command
line. Several are devoted to image processing.

But I don't do that on a laptop either... Not enough
umph and not enough disk for the work that I do.

My use is strictly 'social domestic and pleasure'. Xfce4 seems to hit
the spot for me, although I do play with others sometimes. My brain
doesn't seem to need more than a handful of things in use at the same
time, so two 'virtual desktops' are usually adequate.

I'm running Arch Linux on this old and worn HP Pavilion zd7000, and Void
Linux on a Toshiba Libretto U100 just because ...

Neither of those is up to the latest image management software - and the
HP's keyboard is starting to fall apart. Hence the new machine on order
(Toshiba P50t) to go with the new 'fairly serious' digicam. It will
have Arch Linux dual-booting with Windows 8 at least until the warrenty
expires; the fate of the Windows installation thereafter depends on
whether or not I find any Windows-only software that I don't want to do
without.

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~

Lots of good advice in previous posts. Suggested Linux versions will serve
well, but do not be too quick to give up on Windows 8.1. I find when it is
locked into the "desktop mode" it is very stable and fairly quick compared
to previous Windows versions. I now run it on three home computers without
problems, and virtually never switch to the "metro page". Even the
low-power laptops perform faster on W8.1 than previous W7 installs. The
W8.1 will also give you a free upgrade to W10 later in the year.

Best regards,
John

"PeterN" wrote in message ...

On 5/15/2015 5:07 AM, Whiskers wrote:
OK, clearly a mistake to expect anything useful to come from a mention
of a certain web forum sigh.

I'm an amateur. I have one digital camera that can record RAW files (a
Fujifilm XF1) and I'd like to learn. I do not want to pay a lot for
software that may be far more than I need, and I definitely don't want
to get stuck into a monthly fee payment for something I might not use as
often as that.

The camera came with a CD containing proprietary software provided by
the maker and presumably more or less well matched to the features of
the camera. I haven't used that yet, as for at least a few more days I
won't have a computer with a compatible operating system (and the
existing hardware is ten years old too).

If anyone has anything useful to say about the Fuji software, it would
be appreciated if they could say it here. Even if it contains no
invective.

"Lightroom" and "Darktable" look interesting. Has anyone here actually
used either of them?


YOu have several low cost options for Windows.

Use a trial version of any of them, and see which one you are more
comfortable with. There are free tutorials to help you get started.

Photoshop Essentials

Corel Paint Shop Pro.

Both are fairly easy to learn, and both are quite suitable for beginners.

I have tried Gimp, but for me, the futz factor puts it out of the running.






I hesitate to mention it, but GIMP has a plugin "ufraw". Has anyone
here used that successfully?

Hitherto I have used GIMP for some basic image manipulations. I've also
toyed with "ImageMagick"

Any other suggestions?

I'm comfortable using Linux, command line and GUI; I'm prepared to
consider not deleting Windows 8 from the new laptop when it arrives and
I install Linux on it.




--
PeterN

On Fri, 15 May 2015 13:44:41 -0700, "Rusty Gear"
wrote:

Lots of good advice in previous posts. Suggested Linux versions will serve
well, but do not be too quick to give up on Windows 8.1. I find when it is
locked into the "desktop mode" it is very stable and fairly quick compared
to previous Windows versions. I now run it on three home computers without
problems, and virtually never switch to the "metro page". Even the
low-power laptops perform faster on W8.1 than previous W7 installs. The
W8.1 will also give you a free upgrade to W10 later in the year.

Best regards,
John

I agree completely on Win 8.1. I also have it on three computers, two
of which don't even support it, and it's rock stable on all of them.
I've even found the Metro screen to be useful sometimes.

In article ,
Whiskers wrote:

Cross-platform software is fine. Linux-only is no problem.
Windows-only might be tolerable if it's good enough to justify the
effort.

lightroom definitely is worth running windows or mac os.

Mac-only isn't practical for me (but I recommend Mac systems to
anyone who needs to ask for a recommendation).

why isn't it practical? you can run linux, mac and windows apps side by
side, choosing whichever is the best for a given task.

In article ,
Whiskers wrote:

I've always practiced 'safe hex' - never edit the original!

lightroom never modifies the original. all edits are rendered on the
fly for display or export.

On 2015-05-15, nospam wrote:
In article ,
Whiskers wrote:

Cross-platform software is fine. Linux-only is no problem.
Windows-only might be tolerable if it's good enough to justify the
effort.

lightroom definitely is worth running windows or mac os.

Mac-only isn't practical for me (but I recommend Mac systems to
anyone who needs to ask for a recommendation).

why isn't it practical? you can run linux, mac and windows apps side
by side, choosing whichever is the best for a given task.

I don't want to have yet another OS to get used to, and I don't know of
any Mac-only software that I really want to use.

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~

In article ,
(Floyd L. Davidson) wrote:

The functionality of ImageMagick tools, UFRAW, and GIMP
is significantly enhanced on a Linux platform (if things
like KDE are avoided and a reasonable window manager is
used).

I'm using ImageMagick on this Mac. (I'm using convert in a script.) The
Gimp does not open 16 bit files whit the contents intact. Proper tiffs
from raw are 16bit but the Gimp can only import and export 8bit files.
The latter has already been discussed here, by us.

Tools for using *nixware a Windows unit can be installed on it. Just
don't ask me how...
--
teleportation kills

Whiskers wrote:

"Lightroom" and "Darktable" look interesting. Has anyone here actually
used either of them?

I'm currently using Darktable for my RAW conversions and find it to be very
good. I used Bibble for the last 8 years but since Corel bought it it has
become much less usable imo and now I've got a camera unsupported by my
Bibble so hence the swap to Darktable.


I hesitate to mention it, but GIMP has a plugin "ufraw". Has anyone
here used that successfully?

I've used it on and off but have never found it to be better or easier to
use than that which I've currently been using.

Hitherto I have used GIMP for some basic image manipulations. I've also
toyed with "ImageMagick"

Any other suggestions?

You may also like to look at RawTherapee, Digikam and Lightzone.
I use DigiKam as my day to day viewer and manager.


I'm comfortable using Linux, command line and GUI; I'm prepared to
consider not deleting Windows 8 from the new laptop when it arrives and
I install Linux on it.

Apart from warranty purposes there really is no need.

--
sid

android wrote:
In article ,
(Floyd L. Davidson) wrote:

The functionality of ImageMagick tools, UFRAW, and GIMP
is significantly enhanced on a Linux platform (if things
like KDE are avoided and a reasonable window manager is
used).

I'm using ImageMagick on this Mac. (I'm using convert in a script.) The
Gimp does not open 16 bit files whit the contents intact. Proper tiffs
from raw are 16bit but the Gimp can only import and export 8bit files.
The latter has already been discussed here, by us.

Tools for using *nixware a Windows unit can be installed on it. Just
don't ask me how...

"If things like KDE are avoided ..." is not possible on
Windows or the Mac.

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

Floyd L. Davidson wrote:

The functionality of ImageMagick tools, UFRAW, and GIMP
is significantly enhanced on a Linux platform (if things
like KDE are avoided and a reasonable window manager is
used).

How are they enhanced by using one window manager over another?

--
sid