[Digikam-devel] Some thoughts on digiKam development direction

[Gerhard Kulzer]

We have a great program here, probably the best in its category, definitively 
the best for me, and we should be very proud of it. As we are going for big 
steps with 0.8 and 0.9, I want to share some thoughts of mine.
I'm not aware of any 'Leitmotif' for digiKam development as to where do we 
want to go, what is the targeted 'user market segment'? Please guide me if 
there is one. I also think that OSS should be careful with this kind of beast 
of a Leitmotif, flexibility and openness are paramount. Maybe it's enough to 
follow the averaged direction of the developers which move like a flock of 
birds?
Observing 6 people around me using digiKam and 3 that use iPhoto, they are all 
casual photographers, no ambitions, makes me think. If I had to make a list 
of what is important to them it would be the following:
1. Ease of use 
(no cluttered GUI, logical menu structure, important things in taskbar...)
1a. Easy download of pictures, camera support 
(here the hotplug scripts are important, and we have to deal with udev in the 
near future)
2. First thing they do after download is a Slideshow 
(the interactivity mode of iPhoto in the slideshow would be a 'nice to have' 
feature)
3. Cropping and saving the new crop.
(I support the feature discussed at length to keep the downloaded pics by 
default untouched as originals, 'normal people' are not so sure about what 
they are doing with their files as developers are.)
4. Keeping order and finding the pictures again (here the 0.8 date view and 
search dialog has brought about a big plus)
5. Exporting pics to galleries (remote, local and Flikr... )
(people are proud of their photos and want to show them, and want to show off. 
The looks [graphical presentation] of galleries is very important. Galleries 
produced by digiKam are telling of the Linux world as a whole as well! We can 
and must improve here, I'm working on it.)

Me, I am more ambitious and I use all plugins, play around with them a lot. I 
feel that Gilles pushes a lot to provide the best algorithms for ambitious 
photographers, and I support him a 100% there! So my profile of digiKam 
development direction would sound like that: 

keep it as simple as possible having in mind the average user, and, at the 
same time keep it an advanced tool ahead of the pack for the more ambitious, 
for ourselves in the end.

Looking back of where we're going so far, I think we are on the right track. A 
nice looking GUI will attract people, will make them install and try digiKam, 
but it will not keep them if the functionality is not good.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts

Gerhard