[Digikam-users] Greetings

Mon Sep 2 18:22:18 BST 2013

Hello,

Did you check to which hosts/ports DigiKam tried to connect?  Did you actually 
let it establish the connection so that you could inspect the packages' 
content to verify if what was being sent supported your theory of spying?

I guess your are pretty new to online communities and Free and Open Source 
Software.  A much more constructive approach when posting to a mailling list 
is to state relevant observed facts and ask questions about them.  Indulge me 
while I make the effort of reformulating your original message :

==== Begin alternate reality ====

Greetings,

I just installed Digikam and used it for a very short while.  I have a few 
questions regarding it's behavior :

1. When I started DigiKam, my firewall notified me that it tried to open 3 
connections.  What is the purpose of these connections and what data is being 
exchanged?

2. I did not find it easy to navigate the file-system with Digikam to find my 
pictures.  How should I organize them to work efficiently with Digikam?

Thank you for your time and patience to help a new user like me.

==== End alternate reality ====

In 1, you did gather or provide enough information to substantiate any claim 
of spying.

In 2, instead of wondering why it wasn't easy (It's certain that no software 
developer will ever ever program something that will make his own life 
harder), you claim that the software doesn't fit your usage pattern.  Nothing 
you wrote in your message indicates that you have made an effort to understand 
how to use the software.

In regards to 3, I find it very ironic that you quote Richard M. Stallman.  
Digikam has been developed as Free and Open Source Software.  The contributors 
(software developers, bug reporters, testers/users, documentation writers, 
etc...) have made a very significant software package that adheres to the 
principles of FOSS.  Also, as I wrote regarding your first comment, there you 
did not provide enough information to allow to conclude that Digikam spies on 
it's users.

I happen to like Digikam and, for me, although it's not perfect, it's the best 
I have found among all existing alternatives.  Now, I have to salute the 
people in this community, because despite your inflammatory comments, everyone 
replied in a constructive and civilized manner.  To me this is a testament to 
the maturity and thoughtfulness of the people involved in this project.  I 
strongly suggest that you follow their example!

Digikam's community : +1

Best regards,

Samuel Gilbert

On September 2, 2013 02:58:49 cgw993 at aol.com wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: digikam-users-bounces at kde.org [mailto:digikam-users-bounces at kde.org]
> On Behalf Of Photonoxx
> Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 2:37 AM
> To: digiKam - Home Manage your photographs as a professional with the power
> of open source
> Subject: Re: [Digikam-users] Greetings
> 
> Le Mon, 02 Sep 2013 10:38:32 +0200, <cgw993 at aol.com> a écrit:
> > Greetings,
> > 
> > 
> > I just installed Digikam. My review of the software so far -
> > 
> > 
> > 1. Digikam opened at least 3 separate connections the internet. Why?!
> > I had
> > to shut these connections down with my firewall.   The program certainty
> > does not make this obvious to any typical user.   I think there may have
> > been more than 3 but its late and I will search more tomorrow before I
> > uninstall it.    There can be no legitimate reason for this and this was
> > not disclosed explicitly on installation.
> 
> No comment, see Gilles answer
> 
> > 2. Digikam does not make it easy to navigate drives/folders on the
> > computer to find photos.  This is the entire  point of photo
> > management software to begin with! It seems more designed to get the
> > user to relinquish control of their current photo organization to
> > digikam.
> 
> Digikam doesn't offer the possibility to browse directly your drive, you
> have to define folder as collection to tell where photos are located and
> consequently which photos do want to manage with digikam.
> 
> It's a strange behavior for a spying program to permit you tell it which
> photos it can watch, no ?  Ugh.
> 
> Apart if you spread your photos everywhere in your drive, or your not enough
> patient to set digikam properly, I don't see a matter with digikam way of
> managing datas, and even in this case, you probably can set your entire
> drive as a collection, it's probably not the cleverest thing to do but it
> should be possible.
> 
> Think about other program which doesn't let you at all where you want to
> stock your pictures.  Ugh ^2
> 
> > 3.  To newer users of "open source".   Free software does not mean the
> > software will not spy on you, or do things you would resent, or anything
> > else the developer(s) maybe have wanted it to do.   It does mean though
> > that
> > the software can be changed because the source is available.   A good
> > example of free software that spies on its users is Ubunto.  Users did
> > not like this, so a modified version was made that did not spy on the
> > users.
> > Free software makes this possible. Please see Richard Stallman's
> > youtube video on Ubunto.
> 
> It's something slightly different I thing, Ubuntu (not Ubunto) use some
> closed source elements, so, we can't know exactly what these elements does.
> ***It is clear you dont know which part of Ubunto I referred to, watch the
> video.**   Personally I use Ubuntu and don't really mind about this **Who
> cares? Good that you have the freedom to decide though. Ubunto spies on
> users, this is well documented and this takes away the users choice ***, I'm
> not sure Windows or MacOSX users are more protected in this case, and
> except if you use strongly secured internet connection and network (as
> using tor), each time you go on internet many server spy on you. **Data
> still gets transmitted, data that has nothing to do with what the users
> wants, and more to do to supplying Google with YOUR data for Google's
> profit**
> 
> The fact Digikam is free software / open source doesn't just mean you can
> change it, it means too you can see what it does by reading the source, and
> since many years digikam exists, if it spy its users, I think it would be
> well known now ? Don't you think ?  **Not necessarily, see Ubunto youtube
> video by Richard Stallman and listen carefully**
> 
> If as suggest Gilles, the internet connection is initiated by geo-location
> online map feature, you may build your own digikam without these features or
> stop waste our time and use another software.  **Like I said, my intent is
> to inform users that may not be aware of these issues., if the
> moderator/salesman doesnt like it, then can abuse their power by censoring
> me**
> 
> > Profiting by spying on and data mining users data is fine I guess, as
> > long as the user has given EXPLICIT permission to do this every time,
> > not via
> > some vague end user license agreement that nobody reads.   Digikam has
> > not
> > made adequate disclosure to it's users.
> 
> You give your permission by choosing it and installing it **I did not give
> it permission to open at least 3 internet connections without my consent and
> especially not to allow Google access to any of my photos or other data**
> but anyway I don't thing Digikam spy your datas ** Google, Adobe, Apple,
> Microsoft and others also dont believe they spy on people either and have
> said so publically many times **  . Does Firefox spying you because it
> opens internet connections  **What a clever point....:|**
> 
> > My Digikam review Grade - F
> > 
> > 
> > Requested Modifications  - Do not spy on or data mine users photos or
> > any other data, or do anything else without the users explicit and clear
> > consent!   Allow users to easily navigate their own photos.  If spying on
> > the users must be a feature, THEN DISLCOSE IT CLEARLY!
> 
> My review Grade : A since it's a wonderful "Free software" and should be
> encouraged as it merits !
> 
> --
> Nicolas Boulesteix
> Photographe chasseur de lueurs
> http://www.photonoxx.fr
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