I suggest that the concept of ‘non-destructive’ processing should aired. This is not a consideration for everybody but an important option that everyone should understand. Some processing systems (darktable for instance) make this a cornerstone of their process while other systems simply ignore the problem/option.
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yes, sure - sorry for that. I’ll correct it when I’m back home
What do different versions of English grammar say about this? Are such spelling caprices “officially” supported? How about the law: would I be, in UK, for instance, allowed to change my official name from John Doe to jOhn dOe? Or at leas to register a company with such a name? I know, it’s off topic, but still …
Since when are proper names affected by grammar rules? And even if that was the case, “darktable” is no real word, so rules don’t apply. 
Thanks, I’m completely happy with your point of view. I was just curious, since, for instance, the English Wikipedia spells the program as darktable even in a title or at the beginning of a sentence, and some languages are not that tolerant. (And sometimes I translate short undemanding texts.) That’s why I said it was off topic. I religiously spell the name “properly” anyway.
jaCal
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A name is a proper noun, same as darktable.
Not really. For example, spelling rules don’t apply. Otherwise you had to apply official spelling rules to names and change them when the official spelling of a word changes. Which I doubt any language does. Well, this is really getting OT now. 
Well let me return us to the original point: we need words!
There are many wonderful suggestions and diagrams in this thread, but not enough words in the wiki post. Don’t be scared, its all version controlled! 
Well I tried … not sure whether my english is good enough - ah and no, that’s no fishing for compliments
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Hello! I happened to stumble across this site while doing research on Linux and FOSS for photography. I thought that my perspective on the topic might be useful.
Just some quick background - I have been using Windows along with many different software packages for image processing for many years, including Photoshop, since version 5.0. I use the computer and software as tools and have been doing so since the days of MS/PC-DOS, WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3. I am concerned with getting things done. When it suits me or peaks my interest, I can and will delve deeper into things and while I’m familiar with the command line, I’m not really interested in using it unless absolutely needed.
What has that got to do with the topic at hand? While I think the idea of introducing beginner’s to FOSS for photography is important, I believe it would be more important to specifically discuss Linux and basic FOSS first, followed by an introduction to image processing and the various tools available.
What is my interest in Linux and FOSS? As an individual, I am concerned with the direction of Microsoft’s approach to their operating system, their software, and surrounding privacy issues. As a photographer, I am very concerned with the direction Adobe is taking with their cloud platform and subscription service. So, I am looking at my alternatives.
I feel that FOSS on Windows or Mac can be dealt with in a fairly straightforward manner, as has been described in this, and other posts here. Further, there are many resources that already exist about the software available for the two platforms. Whenever I have done any searching, it was relatively easy to find software. In fact, it is relatively easy to find software for “linux”.
What I view as the most important aspect of beginning/Intro to photography with FOSS is the choice of underlying operating system. Although not as familiar with Mac, I believe the choice is set (OSX?). Windows is pretty much locked in, or will be, to Windows 10. At the moment I have systems that run or did run on XP, XP Pro, Vista, and Windows 7 Starter. I avoided Windows 8/8.1 and have no desire to move any to Windows 10.
As a “beginner” moving to FOSS and Linux, my concerns may echo those of other new users or those considering a switch to Linux. With Linux, the choice of underlying operating system, or distro, is confounding. I have spent a lot of time looking at and playing with various distros, everything from a Debian base install and adding the software I think I might use, to the various 'buntus, Fedora, Manjaro, OpenSUSE, Antix and MX-15, etc. with various desktop environments when available, including LXDE and LXQt. I find the level of creativity and choice astounding and I could spend, and have spent, way too much time examining the possibilities available. The choice becomes overwhelming! (and I don’t understand how GTK-2, GTK-3, or Qt could impact any decisions I make - never mind systemd, or whatever else is out there)
How then, would I suggest this topic be approached?
Initially, focus on Linux and provide a starting set-up by recommending one or two distros, possibly based on user’s hardware - older netbooks, laptops, computers, 32-bit vs 64-bit, and then newer hardware (At the moment I am running Linux Mint 17.3 on my desktop, two old laptops, and an old netbook, on which I boot along with Windows 7 Starter and two other distros for testing. All are more than 6 years old.)
Recommend one desktop environment that will work with either suggested distro, not the myriad of possibilities available, and walk them through the download, LIVE trial, and installation process.
Recommend how to set up the environment - turn on the firewall; install anti-virus software; ensure other software is installed for printers and scanners; etc.
Only then do I think it would be good to recommend processes and programs to try initially - image downloaders; basic JPG and/or RAW processors, like those that come with the cameras; then move to advanced programs like darktable, RAWTherapee, GIMP, etc. but do it in steps. Colour control is important but most beginners are not going to be that concerned about it - a basic method would suffice initially. A more detailed discussion on could be referenced.
As a previous Windows user, I want to know that the operating system, software and programs will function and be relatively stable, and then where to go if something goes wrong. Whether that stability is best provided by a LTS or rolling release distro, I am unsure.
Sorry for the long reply but I really have found the choices of available distros and all the “new” information to be overwhelming at times. Luckily, I have the time and patience to try various distributions and reading, but I don’t think most people will be so fortunate. They may just give up and go back to Windows or the Mac, not because they necessarily want to but it is just easier sometimes when there is limited choice.
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Hello @dazedandconfused, welcome! I hope you decided to stick around and discuss with us.
I’m not sure we should push an operating system choice in an introductory article, many of the tools here are cross platform. We can perhaps note that all of them run on GNU/LInux, but then again, they probably all run on FreeBSD too. People should swtich to GNU/Linux because they want to. I’m glad you’ve found it, but the Linux desktop isn’t for everyone. In fact, the hardest thing about switching is finding analogs for all your applications that you had on your previous platform. So if a potential switcher adopts the tools first on Windows/Mac, then the actual operating system switch can just sort of happen, because all the tooling is there. This is a big reason I recommend LibreOffice to a lot of people. Once you can say “all the apps you already run also run on Linux” it makes things much easier.
For new users, I generally recommend Ubuntu MATE or Mint; they have the best support for new users. After that, a user should find their own way to a distro and community that suits them. It’s too big of a personal preference and most of the time people don’t go much beyond saying “this is good and I use it.”
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@paperdigits, I am not suggesting that one operating system choice be pushed…mac and windows are easily included. Those new to photography on Mac and Windows have probably been using those operating systems in the past, and would continue to do so, unless there was a major reason to switch. It is much easier to switch programs than operating systems. Adding FOSS options for photography in either environment is straightforward, at least in my mind.
However, a “new” user to linux and photography could probably use some extra guidance. I know it would have been very helpful to have a consensus of experienced users recommend “this” or “that” distro and desktop environment as a start for a good, stable basis for developing, or continuing, a photographic workflow. (You already “generally recommend Ubuntu MATE or Mint” - eventually, those who want to will discover their own preferred distro.)
Further, for those considering a completely FOSS approach, a solid basis in understanding the choices in a linux environment (including FreeBSD and any other similar system of which I am unaware or ignorant of) will not occur overnight, even if they read the manual…or manuals. Hence, the idea for recommendations for one or two specific distros, a desktop environment, printers and scanners that work well with linux, etc. prior to actually getting into the photographic workflow and associated programs available in linux.
As for me, and I would think most people, we will find the programs that suit our individual needs, as long as we have a solid platform from which to begin. We may even discover software that is better than what we’ve previously used. 
P.S. - Could you explain what you mean by “the Linux desktop isn’t for everyone”. I’m not sure what that means.
The Free Software community is full of idealist and idealists take ideal positions. When it comes to the Desktop, the idealist will proclaim their ideal the best and then push it on everyone. There are a lot of zealots. I don’t think that position is very helpful; people should use the Linux desktop because they want to, not because someone berated them into it. Changing tooling can be painful and I feel that too many people have left the Linux desktop because idealist over sell and under deliver. That is, of course, my opinion.
Thanks for your response and the clarification. Unfortunately there are zealots everywhere.
I agree with your opinion that sometimes the Linux desktop gets oversold. However, I think that some of the linux desktop environments are suitable to new users, with guidance and an awareness of the pitfalls, especially in regards to supported (or unsupported) peripherals.
I’ve added to the wiki post and done a bit of editing. This thread has gotten long enough that it’s probably necessary to remind folks that there is a wiki post waaaay up there ^ . Have a read and remember you are also able to edit it. And I won’t be offended if someone dislikes what I have done and undoes it all!
I have a question regarding the intended size and depth of this tutorial…should it try to be more or less self-contained, or should it link out to deeper dives on the various topics? For example, in the “Viewing,sorting, grouping, and adding meta data” topic, the article mentions the kinds of things that can be done to the images, but provides little advice and no examples. I see two alternatives:
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Provide more specifics in the article so that the reader gains an understanding of what can be done, learns some best practices, and sees some examples.
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Flesh the article out enough to give the reader a basic understanding of the tasks and provide a link to a detailed tutorial on the subject (photo organization in this example).
Any thoughts? Is there a consensus?
Hey thanks for adding stuff! It was my thought that this article should be fairly high level; a tutorial covering the mechanics of the whole workflow would be very lengthy. I intend to add some diagrams to this at some point to give a visual overview (someone near the middle of this thread made some nice graphviz graphs I intended to use). I’d rather see each section of this article become its own tutorial, then this article can link out to those tutorials.
I see the target of this article as a novice photographer, someone who knows a bit about photography (we should be explaining camera mechanics) but wants to take their skills to the next level. Secondary target audience would be someone who’s workflow is proprietary now and wants free software tools; they should be able to skim this article and have a reasonable idea of the workflow and available tools.
You won’t get such a consensus. Ever. Probably because most distros are just working nowadays, so people are used to what they use and therefore assume it’s the best when in reality Debian is the best. 
Instead of suggesting specific distros, desktop environments (or no full fledged DE but a window manager?) I would rather explain the new user the whole concept of a modular system like Un*x. Back when I went away from Windows people were still used to booting into DOS and only starting Windows manually when needed, so they understood that the graphical user interfaces isn’t necessarily a core part of the operating system but can be a separate layer. Nowadays people don’t see that any longer when using modern Windows releases and being able to actually change the GUI ontop the base system needs to be explained. Otherwise all those recommendations about KDE being better than GNOME, GNOME being better than KDE, XFCE being the best, only using a window manager with a bunch of XTerm, … isn’t making a lot of sense to new users.
That being said, I wouldn’t even include that into the base article.
@houz, Thanks for your response and input.
You won’t get such a consensus. Ever.
That is disappointing and rather unfortunate. I would have thought there would be at least one or two distros with a stable desktop environment most experienced linux users would/could recommend for new users to cut their teeth on, especially as they pertain to developing a photographic workflow.
I would rather explain the new user the whole concept of a modular
system like Un*x. Back when I went away from Windows people were still
used to booting into DOS and only starting Windows manually when needed,
so they understood that the graphical user interfaces isn’t necessarily
a core part of the operating system but can be a separate layer.
I started with DOS as well. Most new users are not interested in the inner workings. They want to turn on the computer, like a Mac or Windows PC, have it boot into their graphical desktop with icons that let them open their programs and let them work on their photographs. I’m not saying that’s right or wrong, it’s just how it is - in my opinion. So, give people a basic starting point, at least in regards to Linux because it already exists for Mac and Windows because of the lack of choice.
Now, the idea of an article explaining the modular system, as it relates to linux (or BSD and others), and the benefits of choice is an intriguing one. Most articles I read in my research so far talk about the different “modules” (while not the correct term, I use it to refer to wiindow managers, desktop environments and whatever else is available) and how things are interchangeable. None, however, describe the variables to be aware of and why - I initially experimented with a base debian 7 install on my desktop, adding all the different desktop environments. I wanted to see which I preferred and figured I could use the login manager to switch between them. After promptly crashing the system I started over and went more slowly.
I don’t think so. It is the result of a bevy of choice and freedom & choice are what many GNU/Linux users value very highly.
Indeed, Ubuntu MATE 16.04. Install it and don’t worry about it for 5 years.
That should mostly work, unless you installed all the desktop environments, then maybe it won’t work so well. If you’re interested in window managers, perhaps Linux BBQ “Cream” would be of interest to you; it features 70-something window managers already installed for you.
Ok…last response. I seem to have hijacked the thread somewhat and gotten off topic. Guess a good article topic might be: New to Linux? or Transitioning to Linux from Mac or Windows!
@paperdigits - choices: I’m all for choices, but a basic foundation from which to start is important, especially when there are so many choices.
Ubuntu MATE 16.04 LTS - Based on my limited knowledge so far, that would seem to be a good choice for a starting point. Others I have considered are Fedora 24 Design Suite (Riley Brandt’s choice for his laptop, I believe) and Manjaro 16.08 XFCE. So, I would have a small choice of LTS, semi-rolling release, and rolling release - much more manageable.
I did install them all. 
- Hence the crash, I think. Although, when I read the Debian manual, I thought it mentioned it could be done…
. I’ll need to pull it off the shelf and re-read it!
I will look at LinuxBBQ “Cream” - Thanks! I seem to recall reading about it on Distrowatch at some point.
Thanks for all your input!