[Digikam-users] where is the user support?

[Fabio]

All,

I understand the thread started with the left foot but I think there is 
some reality in it that is good to be discussed.

I started with digiKam probably one month ago. I am a Windows user and I 
think here is where most of the pain goes... Don't get me wrong.. I love 
digiKam and most likely I will be using for long time. It is a great 
software, excellent photo management capabilities.

I know this is open source same as other tools I use but honestly, I 
think the support capabilities are very limited and can easily be 
enhanced. What I mean is that most open source tools have a forum tool 
for users to get help from the community. I found only this e-mail list 
as support option. I might suggest that a very easy way to start  it is 
for example using communities in Flickr. Not the best forum tool, but 
good enough for a starting point.

I have faced many issues with digikam that seems to be working fine in 
Linux or other OS. I believe Windows (even though not the best OS), is 
still one of the most used ones so a lot of potential here. I have been 
forced to try other tools due to my issues with digiKam (I am currently 
using Lightzone, GIMP and Photivo, in addition to digiKam).  Changing to 
Linux is not an option for me at least for some time.

Even if I want to help improving, there is no tools for me to provide 
details of the issues (no debugging capabilities like in Linux). Every 
time digiKam crashes, the bug report tool starts but always says 'Not 
enough information'. I am a user with not enough knowledge of the code 
to understand why the errors. I tried using this e-mail list to get help 
and I did (I know you tried looking into it and I appreciate it), but 
not enough to resolve the actual issues.

Performance is another major pain. I know it is because Windows 
limitations working with Java, but when comparing to other tools (that 
have performance issues too) digiKam is probably the worst time response 
(almost to the point of not useability). Lightzone is bad in some cases 
too, but not as bad.

I tried using digiKam for Editing but it crashes most of the times with 
no reasons and does not reproduce consistently. I have not reported 
those for the same reason.

As a fan of digiKam, I would like to see it grow at the rate of other 
open source tools and I know I have to give my 5 cents into it, but what 
can we (users) do? If you give us options, I am sure few people 
(including myself) are willing to do what we could from our side.

Hope I expressed my frustration in a positive way... If not, I apologize.


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