Digikam raw files and darktable

[Remco Viëtor]

On dimanche 15 janvier 2017 02:50:21 CET Juan Jose Casafranca wrote:
> Is that a darktable only solution? I dont want a darktable only solution
> but a global solution, for several raw processors. When I say darktable,
> its because its the raw processor I use, not because it deserves a special
> treatment.
>
> I still think that a solution  in which dk calls the raw processor to
> generate the processed image is the best.
>
I already explained why I'm not sure that's the best way to go.

But there's another question:
*How is Digikam going to handle the generated thumbnail(s)?*

If it's used to replace the thumbnail for the original file you have a file
corresponding to the thumbnail. But you'll get a lot of messages and bug
reports about missing images (cf. "always show original images"). And I want
to see the original raw, ideas about how to develop a file change, program
capabilities change, etc.

If you want to show it besides the original RAW file, what file is going to be
linked to it? You don't have an independent image behind that generated
thumbnail.

And digikam is still based on image files, with a database to support
searching and such, whereas Darktable is based on a database (with XMP files
as 'backup') to _represent_ images, and some images happen to have a physical
image file behind them (simplified, but that's the basic difference).

Related to this:
with darktable, it is possible to generate several images from one Raw file,
and none of these have to be exported. So which of the corresponding
thumbnails is going to be used in Digikam? and what are you going to do with
the other images?

[Juan Jose Casafranca]

I don't understand your point about thumbnails. Thumbnails in DK are stored in the database, the only thing needed is to change the way the thumbnail is generated in the first place and that will be the image that is saved in the database. 

When the associated xmp file is changed for a raw image, the thumbnail will be updated. 

About how to associated a single raw file with several xmp, I still have to understand that part of the code. Simon proposed to use a virtual file. I believe this means adding several entries to the file database for a single file, but as I said, I have to think about this part and how can be implemented. 

2017-01-15 8:19 GMT+01:00 Remco Viëtor <[hidden email]>:

On dimanche 15 janvier 2017 02:50:21 CET Juan Jose Casafranca wrote:
> Is that a darktable only solution? I dont want a darktable only solution
> but a global solution, for several raw processors. When I say darktable,
> its because its the raw processor I use, not because it deserves a special
> treatment.
>
> I still think that a solution  in which dk calls the raw processor to
> generate the processed image is the best.
>
I already explained why I'm not sure that's the best way to go.

But there's another question:
*How is Digikam going to handle the generated thumbnail(s)?*

If it's used to replace the thumbnail for the original file you have a file
corresponding to the thumbnail. But you'll get a lot of messages and bug
reports about missing images (cf. "always show original images"). And I want
to see the original raw, ideas about how to develop a file change, program
capabilities change, etc.

If you want to show it besides the original RAW file, what file is going to be
linked to it? You don't have an independent image behind that generated
thumbnail.

And digikam is still based on image files, with a database to support
searching and such, whereas Darktable is based on a database (with XMP files
as 'backup') to _represent_ images, and some images happen to have a physical
image file behind them (simplified, but that's the basic difference).

Related to this:
with darktable, it is possible to generate several images from one Raw file,
and none of these have to be exported. So which of the corresponding
thumbnails is going to be used in Digikam? and what are you going to do with
the other images?

[Mik Clucas]

Hi everyone,

I have been happily using DK in a Linux Environment for many years and recently discovered the Windows port and that you can use a centralised DB repository. There are some Windows PCs in the house that I (and my wife) use for some Photo processing, so what a great opportunity to get everything/everyone working with the same Software and Picture library!

I recently wanted to upgrade from 5.2 to 5.3, at the same time I changed some config settings (show splash screen at startup). Now I have a situation where none of the versions 5.2, 5.3 or even 5.4 show me a gui. I can see the program in the task manager but not using any resources and after a long time, ~6 Hrs, no change! From what I can see it looks like a case of Bug 374368 - Unchecking "Show splash screen at startup" causes no window to display at Launch.

 

So after a Long preamble, here is my question: Does any one know how can I reset this Option without destroying the DK library? (Maybe by editing a config file or the windows registry)

 

Thx i.A for your help

 

Best regards

Mik

[Gilles Caulier-4]

There is nothing in Windows registry DB from digiKam. All are text file in hidden area from your home directory.

You problem is know and have already report in this mailing list. 

Search on Mailing list history a post about this problem titled "Digikam 5.4.0 won't start on Windows" posted on 5 January 2017.

Gilles Caulier

2017-01-15 10:48 GMT+01:00 <[hidden email]>:

Hi everyone,

I have been happily using DK in a Linux Environment for many years and recently discovered the Windows port and that you can use a centralised DB repository. There are some Windows PCs in the house that I (and my wife) use for some Photo processing, so what a great opportunity to get everything/everyone working with the same Software and Picture library!

I recently wanted to upgrade from 5.2 to 5.3, at the same time I changed some config settings (show splash screen at startup). Now I have a situation where none of the versions 5.2, 5.3 or even 5.4 show me a gui. I can see the program in the task manager but not using any resources and after a long time, ~6 Hrs, no change! From what I can see it looks like a case of Bug 374368 - Unchecking "Show splash screen at startup" causes no window to display at Launch.

 

So after a Long preamble, here is my question: Does any one know how can I reset this Option without destroying the DK library? (Maybe by editing a config file or the windows registry)

 

Thx i.A for your help

 

Best regards

Mik

[Remco Viëtor]

On dimanche 15 janvier 2017 10:19:29 CET Juan Jose Casafranca wrote:
> I don't understand your point about thumbnails. Thumbnails in DK are stored
> in the database, the only thing needed is to change the way the thumbnail
> is generated in the first place and that will be the image that is saved in
> the database.
>
And that is exactly what I don't like about your idea...

> When the associated xmp file is changed for a raw image, the thumbnail will
> be updated.
>
Meaning, if I understood your previous posts correctly, that you _replace_ the
thumbnail in the digikam database by a new one. Which means that you won't see
the original thumbnail anymore (as it has been overwritten)...

Now, imagine a new Digikam user, who uses the build-in editor for a while and
is used to seeing his edits and the original (RAW or jpeg/tiff/dng/...) file
side by side. That user hears about Darktable and decides to give it a try. He
edits a few files with it, and goes back to Digikam, _where his original
images seem to have disappeared_ (as DK replaced the thumbnails).

> About how to associated a single raw file with several xmp, I still have to
> understand that part of the code. Simon proposed to use a virtual file. I
> believe this means adding several entries to the file database for a single
> file, but as I said, I have to think about this part and how can be
> implemented.
>

And if you go that way, there is no reason anymore to replace the original
thumbnail, you just add an extra virtual file.

Also, it seems that UFRaw and RawTherapee require you to save the edited
images to jpg (or whatever you like), and in that case, Digikam sees the new
files appear and takes care of the new thumbnails automatically. So the
'virtual file' solution is only needed for Darktable (afaik). So, if possible,
a plugin that automatically saves a jpeg from within Darktable might be an
easier solution (the 'virtual file' solution might cause a lot of other head-
aches when you use DT and another editor like te GIMP: as no real file exists
for the DT edit, it's going to be complicated to avoid file naming conflicts).

I'd love to see a solution where the DT edits are visible from within DK, but
replacing thumbnails isn't acceptable for me.

[Mik Clucas]

Good to know that the registry is not being used!

 

Thanks for the link. I changed the Option «Show Splash» in digikamrc and can now start digiKam 5.3

 

Best regards

Mik Clucas

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

 

From: [hidden email]
Sent: Sonntag, 15. Januar 2017 10:56
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: DK settings in windows 10

 

There is nothing in Windows registry DB from digiKam. All are text file in hidden area from your home directory.

 

You problem is know and have already report in this mailing list. 

 

Search on Mailing list history a post about this problem titled "Digikam 5.4.0 won't start on Windows" posted on 5 January 2017.

 

Gilles Caulier

 

 

2017-01-15 10:48 GMT+01:00 <[hidden email]>:

Hi everyone,

I have been happily using DK in a Linux Environment for many years and recently discovered the Windows port and that you can use a centralised DB repository. There are some Windows PCs in the house that I (and my wife) use for some Photo processing, so what a great opportunity to get everything/everyone working with the same Software and Picture library!

I recently wanted to upgrade from 5.2 to 5.3, at the same time I changed some config settings (show splash screen at startup). Now I have a situation where none of the versions 5.2, 5.3 or even 5.4 show me a gui. I can see the program in the task manager but not using any resources and after a long time, ~6 Hrs, no change! From what I can see it looks like a case of Bug 374368 - Unchecking "Show splash screen at startup" causes no window to display at Launch.

 

So after a Long preamble, here is my question: Does any one know how can I reset this Option without destroying the DK library? (Maybe by editing a config file or the windows registry)

 

Thx i.A for your help

 

Best regards

Mik

 

 

[Alexandre Prokoudine]

On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 5:15 PM, J Albrecht wrote:

> For the Developer’s benefit, I’d like to reiterate the above statement: digiKam is a
> brilliant program but please, let’s maintain the focus on where it is brilliant rather
> than trying to craft it into an all-singing-all-dancing piece of bloatware comprising
> relatively mediocre modules just for the sake of doing so. In the FOSS realm,
> digikam is an excellent Digital Asset Management program, darktable is, IMHO,
> the best Raw editor and GIMP is unparalleled for post-processing. It’s folly and
> perhaps a bit arrogant to assume that Users would willingly be hobbled by using
> only one program simply because they are “loyal” to that program.

..or you could politely ask whether having a switch for the preferable
raw plug-in is planned for GIMP (hint: it is).

Alex

[J Albrecht]

On 15 Jan 2017, at 08:05, Alexandre Prokoudine <[hidden email]> wrote:

..or you could politely ask whether having a switch for the preferable
raw plug-in is planned for GIMP (hint: it is).

That’s the the kind of collaboration that we’re talkin’ about!!

Thanks in advance, GIMP devs :-)

[AndriusWild]

I had to uninstall Digikam and clean up leftovers.

After I installed Digikam 5.4.0 again it worked and I haven't seen the issue again.

To clean up I used file search by "digikam" and "kde" in the open source Double Commander ran as administrator and CCleaner registry clean after that. CCleaner actually found some links to digikam.exe etc. in the registry.

Windows 10 search is awful that is the reason I used Double Commander.

Please make sure you don't delete the database.db, thumbnails and xmp sidecar files. My database is on a separate drive so that was not an issue for me.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------

From: [hidden email]

Date: 2017-01-15 4:35 AM (GMT-07:00)

To: digiKam - Home Manage your photographs as a professional with the power of open source <[hidden email]>

Subject: RE: DK settings in windows 10

Good to know that the registry is not being used!

 

Thanks for the link. I changed the Option «Show Splash» in digikamrc and can now start digiKam 5.3

 

Best regards

Mik Clucas

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

 

From: [hidden email]
Sent: Sonntag, 15. Januar 2017 10:56
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: DK settings in windows 10

 

There is nothing in Windows registry DB from digiKam. All are text file in hidden area from your home directory.

 

You problem is know and have already report in this mailing list. 

 

Search on Mailing list history a post about this problem titled "Digikam 5.4.0 won't start on Windows" posted on 5 January 2017.

 

Gilles Caulier

 

 

2017-01-15 10:48 GMT+01:00 <[hidden email]>:

Hi everyone,

I have been happily using DK in a Linux Environment for many years and recently discovered the Windows port and that you can use a centralised DB repository. There are some Windows PCs in the house that I (and my wife) use for some Photo processing, so what a great opportunity to get everything/everyone working with the same Software and Picture library!

I recently wanted to upgrade from 5.2 to 5.3, at the same time I changed some config settings (show splash screen at startup). Now I have a situation where none of the versions 5.2, 5.3 or even 5.4 show me a gui. I can see the program in the task manager but not using any resources and after a long time, ~6 Hrs, no change! From what I can see it looks like a case of Bug 374368 - Unchecking "Show splash screen at startup" causes no window to display at Launch.

 

So after a Long preamble, here is my question: Does any one know how can I reset this Option without destroying the DK library? (Maybe by editing a config file or the windows registry)

 

Thx i.A for your help

 

Best regards

Mik

 

 

[Juan Jose Casafranca]

On domingo, 15 de enero de 2017 11:31:34 (CET) Remco Viëtor wrote:

> On dimanche 15 janvier 2017 10:19:29 CET Juan Jose Casafranca wrote:
> > I don't understand your point about thumbnails. Thumbnails in DK are
> > stored
> > in the database, the only thing needed is to change the way the thumbnail
> > is generated in the first place and that will be the image that is saved
> > in
> > the database.
>
> And that is exactly what I don't like about your idea...
>
> > When the associated xmp file is changed for a raw image, the thumbnail
> > will
> > be updated.
>
> Meaning, if I understood your previous posts correctly, that you _replace_
> the thumbnail in the digikam database by a new one. Which means that you
> won't see the original thumbnail anymore (as it has been overwritten)...
>
> Now, imagine a new Digikam user, who uses the build-in editor for a while
> and is used to seeing his edits and the original (RAW or jpeg/tiff/dng/...)
> file side by side. That user hears about Darktable and decides to give it a
> try. He edits a few files with it, and goes back to Digikam, _where his
> original images seem to have disappeared_ (as DK replaced the thumbnails).
>

And if you don't replace the thubnail, you simply view the embedded jpg in the
raw file. I prefer to see the actual image that a version the camera generated
based in who knows which development.

> > About how to associated a single raw file with several xmp, I still have
> > to
> > understand that part of the code. Simon proposed to use a virtual file. I
> > believe this means adding several entries to the file database for a
> > single
> > file, but as I said, I have to think about this part and how can be
> > implemented.
>
> And if you go that way, there is no reason anymore to replace the original
> thumbnail, you just add an extra virtual file.

You can always generate a new duplicate which you left untouched. But I buy
this. For a raw file, generate one extra virtual file which is the embedded jpg.

>
> Also, it seems that UFRaw and RawTherapee require you to save the edited
> images to jpg (or whatever you like), and in that case, Digikam sees the new
> files appear and takes care of the new thumbnails automatically. So the
> 'virtual file' solution is only needed for Darktable (afaik). So, if
> possible, a plugin that automatically saves a jpeg from within Darktable
> might be an easier solution (the 'virtual file' solution might cause a lot
> of other head- aches when you use DT and another editor like te GIMP: as no
> real file exists for the DT edit, it's going to be complicated to avoid
> file naming conflicts).
>
> I'd love to see a solution where the DT edits are visible from within DK,
> but replacing thumbnails isn't acceptable for me.

I don't want to export the jpgs. If you still think that, you have completely
misunderstood this whole point. I want the raw thumbnail to show how the image
is currently based in the development you have done in the raw processor.

Le 15/01/2017 à 17:01, Juan José Casafranca a écrit :

> misunderstood this whole point. I want the raw thumbnail to show how the image
> is currently based in the development you have done in the raw processor.
>
>
don't know if a thumbnail can achieve this :-(

jdd

[Remco Viëtor]

On dimanche 15 janvier 2017 17:01:13 CET Juan José Casafranca wrote:
(...)
>
> I don't want to export the jpgs. If you still think that, you have
> completely misunderstood this whole point. I want the raw thumbnail to show
> how the image is currently based in the development you have done in the
> raw processor.

Oh, I understand exactly what you want to do.

I don't agree with it (and I think I'm not the only one), and I try to show
you why I don't agree, and what alternatives and pitfalls I see.

But if you are willing to spend the time implenting it, please go ahead.
I'll leave you to it and leave this discussion.

Have fun

Remco

[Juan Jose Casafranca]

Yes it can, I have already done it. You only need to call the raw processor and ask for the developed image. 

The issue is to know when the thumbnail must be updated, as the raw file is not changed, but the xmp file, and DK schedules updates when the image file has changed. 

2017-01-15 17:06 GMT+01:00 jdd <[hidden email]>:

Le 15/01/2017 à 17:01, Juan José Casafranca a écrit :

misunderstood this whole point. I want the raw thumbnail to show how the image
is currently based in the development you have done in the raw processor.

don't know if a thumbnail can achieve this :-(

jdd

Le 15/01/2017 à 17:10, Juan Jose Casafranca a écrit :
> Yes it can, I have already done it. You only need to call the raw
> processor and ask for the developed image.

You don't understand what I mean. A thunmnail is a very small jpg, with
much compression, so it wont be able to show what the final image is,
apart from very basic content

> The issue is to know when the thumbnail must be updated, as the raw file
> is not changed, but the xmp file, and DK schedules updates when the
> image file has changed.
>
> 2017-01-15 17:06 GMT+01:00 jdd <[hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>>:
>
>     Le 15/01/2017 à 17:01, Juan José Casafranca a écrit :
>
>         misunderstood this whole point. I want the raw thumbnail to show
>         how the image
>         is currently based in the development you have done in the raw
>         processor.
>
>
>     don't know if a thumbnail can achieve this :-(
>
>     jdd
>
>

[Juan Jose Casafranca]

Remco, I'm sorry if you have feel offended. 

I don't want you to leave, I want to discuss this feature with at much users/developers as possible. 

I dont understand the pitfalls you are saying.

You say that the user may want to see the original embedded jpg. Well, you can duplicate the edition and leave it undone. You will have one empty edition and the good one. DK will show boths. If you want to open it in GIMP for example, of course you can't open it directly, first you must export it to an image format. I don't think that is a problem. In fact, is the common behaviour. 

 

2017-01-15 17:09 GMT+01:00 Remco Viëtor <[hidden email]>:

On dimanche 15 janvier 2017 17:01:13 CET Juan José Casafranca wrote:
(...)
>
> I don't want to export the jpgs. If you still think that, you have
> completely misunderstood this whole point. I want the raw thumbnail to show
> how the image is currently based in the development you have done in the
> raw processor.

Oh, I understand exactly what you want to do.

I don't agree with it (and I think I'm not the only one), and I try to show
you why I don't agree, and what alternatives and pitfalls I see.

But if you are willing to spend the time implenting it, please go ahead.
I'll leave you to it and leave this discussion.

Have fun

Remco

[Juan Jose Casafranca]

Okay, I understand what you mean. 

But a thumbnail may be in BW for example, and that is completely different from a color version. The raw file shows the color version because that is the embedded image. In the raw processor you turn it into BW and the thumbnail remains colored. I dont feel that is the correct behavior for a thumbnail... in fact, in that case, is completely useless because the image is completely different from what the thumbnail is showing. 

2017-01-15 17:13 GMT+01:00 jdd <[hidden email]>:

Le 15/01/2017 à 17:10, Juan Jose Casafranca a écrit :

Yes it can, I have already done it. You only need to call the raw
processor and ask for the developed image.

You don't understand what I mean. A thunmnail is a very small jpg, with much compression, so it wont be able to show what the final image is, apart from very basic content

The issue is to know when the thumbnail must be updated, as the raw file
is not changed, but the xmp file, and DK schedules updates when the
image file has changed.

2017-01-15 17:06 GMT+01:00 jdd <[hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>>:

    Le 15/01/2017 à 17:01, Juan José Casafranca a écrit :

        misunderstood this whole point. I want the raw thumbnail to show
        how the image
        is currently based in the development you have done in the raw
        processor.


    don't know if a thumbnail can achieve this :-(

    jdd

[Mik Clucas]

 

After finding and modifying the splash Screen Parameter in digikamrc. digiKam 5.3 appears to be working OK.

Maybe I’ll get away without having to disinfect my System! However, if I do your tips will be very helpful.

 

And Yes Windows 10 search could be better.

 

Best regards

Mik Clucas

 

From: [hidden email]
Sent: Sonntag, 15. Januar 2017 16:23
To: [hidden email]
Subject: RE: DK settings in windows 10

 

I had to uninstall Digikam and clean up leftovers.

After I installed Digikam 5.4.0 again it worked and I haven't seen the issue again.

To clean up I used file search by "digikam" and "kde" in the open source Double Commander ran as administrator and CCleaner registry clean after that. CCleaner actually found some links to digikam.exe etc. in the registry.

 

Windows 10 search is awful that is the reason I used Double Commander.

Please make sure you don't delete the database.db, thumbnails and xmp sidecar files. My database is on a separate drive so that was not an issue for me.

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

 

-------- Original message --------

From: [hidden email]

Date: 2017-01-15 4:35 AM (GMT-07:00)

To: digiKam - Home Manage your photographs as a professional with the power of open source <[hidden email]>

Subject: RE: DK settings in windows 10

 

Good to know that the registry is not being used!

 

Thanks for the link. I changed the Option «Show Splash» in digikamrc and can now start digiKam 5.3

 

Best regards

Mik Clucas

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

 

From: [hidden email]
Sent: Sonntag, 15. Januar 2017 10:56
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: DK settings in windows 10

 

There is nothing in Windows registry DB from digiKam. All are text file in hidden area from your home directory.

 

You problem is know and have already report in this mailing list. 

 

Search on Mailing list history a post about this problem titled "Digikam 5.4.0 won't start on Windows" posted on 5 January 2017.

 

Gilles Caulier

 

 

2017-01-15 10:48 GMT+01:00 <[hidden email]>:

Hi everyone,

I have been happily using DK in a Linux Environment for many years and recently discovered the Windows port and that you can use a centralised DB repository. There are some Windows PCs in the house that I (and my wife) use for some Photo processing, so what a great opportunity to get everything/everyone working with the same Software and Picture library!

I recently wanted to upgrade from 5.2 to 5.3, at the same time I changed some config settings (show splash screen at startup). Now I have a situation where none of the versions 5.2, 5.3 or even 5.4 show me a gui. I can see the program in the task manager but not using any resources and after a long time, ~6 Hrs, no change! From what I can see it looks like a case of Bug 374368 - Unchecking "Show splash screen at startup" causes no window to display at Launch.

 

So after a Long preamble, here is my question: Does any one know how can I reset this Option without destroying the DK library? (Maybe by editing a config file or the windows registry)

 

Thx i.A for your help

 

Best regards

Mik

 

 

 

[tosca]

I apologize for having not read the whole discussion, that seems quite very/too technical for me.

From a regular user of both softwares, here is my workflow, that might provide some thougths regarding an organisation solution instead of a purely technical one.

Once developed in Darktable, my pictures are exported full size in TIFF format into the original Digikam folder; from then, they served as the new 'master' picture from which I can generate any JPEG, resize, add watermark, export to online galleries and such.

In Digikam, I simply group the RAW file 'under' the TIFF file, so I usely only see the TIFF file. I can use the  file formats filter (no RAW files or TIFF only) to separate pictures that have been developed or not. And of course, the RAW file remains available if/when I need to create a different interpretation with a new TIFF file.

Hope this can help,

Marie-Noëlle

2017-01-06 20:01 GMT+01:00 Juan Jose Casafranca <[hidden email]>:

Hi everybody,

I would like to know if there is any easy way to use digikam as a photo
management software and use darktable for raw editing.

The main issue I'm finding when I try to do this is this one
-Raw thumbnails are loaded from the jpeg embeded file and when I change process
my photo in darktable, this thumbnail isn't changed in digikam

It would be nice that digikam reads the darktable sidecar and uses an specified
software (or digikam editor tool if no software is specified) to load the
preview file for raw pictures. Is there any way to do this?

If there's no such way to do this, I will be happy to post it in the
developers mailing list and try to implement it, because I feel that darktable
management features are far away from digikam ones and digikam editor features
are far away from darktable ones. It would be nice to have both softwares
working together :-)

Any idea?

--

[Juan Jose Casafranca]

That is the point. Askibg which raw processor to use when decoding the raw file for showing the preview and thumbnail.

Anyway, I have been trying to understand the code and doing a todo list and it looks like a lot of work just for me (as I dont understand the code). The todo list is:

-Add code to generate the thumbnail when thumbnails are being created (this is easy and its done, although in a very bad manner)

-Schedule thumbnail creation when a raw file OR the file where the edition is saved are modified. This is not done and I dont know how to do it. Maybe a new table in the database where we stored the edition files and the image file which are related to. When an edition file is changed, schedule an update for the image.

-Being able to show several thumbnails for a single raw file is several editions coexist. Maybe the previous approach can do this also.

-Config for selecting the raw processor.

Without some help from a experienced developer its impossible for me to do all this tasks in a correct, bugfree and eficient way. So unless a developer wants to help me with support, docs and code, and I know they have other roadmap, Ill have to leave the project, as I dont have enough time for solving those task in my own.

Thanks!

El 20 ene. 2017 21:09, "Alexandre Prokoudine" <[hidden email]> escribió:

On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 5:15 PM, J Albrecht wrote:

> For the Developer’s benefit, I’d like to reiterate the above statement: digiKam is a
> brilliant program but please, let’s maintain the focus on where it is brilliant rather
> than trying to craft it into an all-singing-all-dancing piece of bloatware comprising
> relatively mediocre modules just for the sake of doing so. In the FOSS realm,
> digikam is an excellent Digital Asset Management program, darktable is, IMHO,
> the best Raw editor and GIMP is unparalleled for post-processing. It’s folly and
> perhaps a bit arrogant to assume that Users would willingly be hobbled by using
> only one program simply because they are “loyal” to that program.

..or you could politely ask whether having a switch for the preferable
raw plug-in is planned for GIMP (hint: it is).

Alex