Do linux apps really exist ?

#1 Paintshop pro = GIMP 2.0
Milkshape = blender
Music Apps = Rosegarden, Muse

Quote:and finally,what linux flavour would you recommend ?

NEVER, EVER, EVER ASK THIS QUESTION!

#2 Thanks fruitbat.

LOL -
you're totally right. i withdraw the Q. haha.

I'll check gimp 2.0.
I do a lot of image editing, like everyone i'm sure,
and the last time i checked out gimp it was pretty painful.

Those music apps are new to me, i'll give them a look.

#3 Blender is not the only 3d app for linux, but it is probably the best. IIRC, wings 3d has a linux port, but it can't do animations.It is still an awsome program though.

Quote:what linux flavour would you recommend ?

Debian- Nothing beats apt-get

#4 Personally, I think PaintShop Pro is better than GIMP 2.0. I like both, I just like PSP more. You should look into WINE or a similar program so you can use Windows apps with Linux.

#5 Paint Shop Pro is a great program for the price :)

#6 Definitely!

and pretty light-weight.

.. i just installed gimp 2 on my XP machine and had to power-cycle the box.. hmm.

#7 I feel that the main problem with GIMP is that its interface was designed by a Linux programmer. When I compare the usability of GIMP to Photoshop, there is no contest. I can find everything I need to find, and get done everything I need to get done in Photoshop, where as GIMP is convoluted and results in me getting frusturated with the simplest of tasks.

#8 Yea, GIMP's interface is not great by any means, though there IS a hack to make it more photoshop like, at least for the MacOS X port. I still use it, though, mostly because I'm not an artist, and most of what I make are temporary test GFX, and the price is right.

As far as distributions go... That one is a tricky question... I suggest you go to somewhere like DistroWatch.com and looking at the various featuresets of the different distros. As far as just trying it out, and looking for one with a lot of tools to edit media without having to install anything(based on the selection of tools you seem interested in, I assume your more the artist type), you might want to look at Dyne:Bolic.

#9 Thanks for the 411s.

actually i'm primarily a programmer,
but i'm already somewhat familiar w/ the linux dev tools out there.

.. dynebolic.org is down for me right now, but it sounds interesting.

#10 @Pat Wilson

"I can find everything I need to find, and get done everything I need to get done in Photoshop, where as GIMP is convoluted and results in me getting frusturated with the simplest of tasks."

This just sounds like you are familiar with PS and not with GIMP. I use GIMP2.2 under windows and have to say, all the functionallity that I used in PS is there in GIMP and once I became familiar with GIMP's interface I don't perceive any "convolution" or have any frustration (maybe I'm not using enough of the app or something?.....)

I think if a few fewer people pirated PS and used GIMP, then provided feedback on how to make GIMP better, we'd see an even better GIMP soon enough, not that GIMP isn't everything I need already. (Same arguement for Blender v Max/Maya/etc)

#11 Leave Linux and go www.pcbsd.org

#12 @Nick: Please don't start an OS flame war, we have enough kids around for yet another stupid thread.

@Pat: I've been following the development release of gimp and one of the goals for the next version (currently in progress) is re-organizing the menus in the gimp, hopefull this will mean more human-readable menus :)

#13 Nick, BSD is not bad, but is more system-admin oriented, while Linux is a bit more user friendly.
I used both, while BSD makes me excited because is more similar to the original Unix, I like Linux more because is simpler and better structured (think about, in example, compiling Linux vs BSD, or configuring theyr applications/system options, as well as users and groups).

Bye, Thc.

#14 I personally favour Gentoo Linux. There's an initial learning curve while you install the thing but as long as you know the basics of how a PC works e.g. how many hard drives you have, it's really not too bad at all. Excellent installation documentation.

After that it is, in my opinion, one of the easiest installations to use because of its lovely 'portage' system for installing new software. I think it operates similarly to Debian, though I have no experience in the latter.

From what I hear Debian is also an excellent, but rather advanced distribution. For a beginner, try Fedora or Ubuntu. RedHat isn't really worth going with, being angled more towards businesses. Fedora is its more desktop-angled offshoot, while Ubuntu is a new player that has garnered some excellent reviews very quickly.

Oh, and if you just want to give Linux a first look then you can't go wrong with Knoppix, an excellent installation-less Live CD. Very good indeed, and also makes for a fantastic rescue disk for you or anyone else.

#15 I would reccomend Libranet, it's Debian based, and is user friendly like Mandrake is. The name isn't anything cool, but it's a good distro. It's what I've found to work best for me. You'd probably grow out of Ubuntu, but it is good for beginners. Gentoo rocks, but you really would want some previous experience under your belt.

I second Andew's suggestion of finding a distro such as Knoppix that has a live cd. Whatever you choose, good luck and enjoy :]