Hi, I am about to give up Windows and switch to Linux Mint. Anyway, I’ve already done that and overall I’m very satisfied. I have a question regarding Darktable. Is DT support on Linux the same as on Windows and does the program work equally well? Or is it better on Windows?
From the darktable FAQ:
Windows
darktable is developed for linux, but it was ported to build on Windows.
does that answer your question?
By the way
Welcome home (Linux)
5 Likes
Ooo, I didn’t know DT was originally developed for Linux. So everything should be fine with the program running. Thanks for the quick reply 
I believe one difference is that Linux version supports printing which is a feature not available on the windows version. I have Darktable on my main computer which is Windows 11 but on older computers I have installed Linux rather than trashing the computer and DT works fine. You will have no problem. Also GIMP is a good program to complement DT.
Haha, I did exactly the same thing. I installed Linux on an older PC for testing because I’m running out of support for Windows 10 and Microsoft is blocking Windows 11 installations due to supposedly weak components.
That’s why I’m testing Linux Mint, as it might be my main system.
Mint works really well. My wife is a computer dummie by her own admission and I have put her on an old laptop running Mint and she is fine doing what she needs to do. It will also support an old printer which Windows refuses to support anymore. Mint is also much quicker in performance in my experience than windows. You will not regret the move.
1 Like
I had a dual boot windows 10 and Mint laptop about seven yrs ago and darktable ran much better on linux (not surprising really).
1 Like
I noticed that the version of DT on Linux is 4.6.1, and on Windows I already have 5.0.1
Your distro is prolly building it for it’s next release. There may be a flatpack , snap, or appimage for your distro to get the latest version.
IMHO best option is to download AppImage directly from here https://www.darktable.org/install/
Next right click on AppImage → Properties / Permissions and check “is executable”
Next open something like Application launcher / Edit Applications / choose group and Add application.
On my Kubuntu it looks like this
Key point this is Program.
Command line argumets this are my whims.
Or You can install flatpak installation
Darek
Years ago I made my windows pc and laptop dual boot systems (using ubuntu studio) because of darktable - in virtualbox machines it was obviously quite crippled -, having then the opportunity to compare the linux version to, at first, the unofficial Partha’s windows build (dt 2.x or so) and then to first windows versions, provided by darktable’s developers.
I remember doing some ad hoc benchmarks (with raw therapee, darktable and lightzone) and the results were really very similar on both operating systems. With opencl enabled, darktable was actually slightly faster on windows, presumably because of more polished drivers. The general experience was also similar and good on both systems.
1 Like
It’s a bit complicated. I’ll stick with 4.6.1 for now
Ok.
Just download AppImage.
And only change „is executable”
Doubleclick on it.
Next you will be prompted to convert database from 4.6 to 5.0.
New database appears and old database will be stored.
And voila.
Cheers. I am new to linux too.
For me strange observation it was that snap is little different than flatpak and appimage. Each version has different invoking etc.
hello, under Mint open the software library and install “Gear Lever” . Then download the Darktable AppImage, right-click on it and open Gear Lever. In Gear Lever, click on Unlock then Install, and Digikam will be installed with the icon in the menu. Then, in Gear Lever, you can check for updates and install them very easily, just by clicking on a button.
Translated with Deepl
AppImage can be one alternative, however I run Mint 22.1 so to update to newest dt version i followed the links on darktable.org’s install page to Install package graphics:darktable / darktable
One can install 5.0.1 from there directly or download the deb file and execute it.
I haven’t during 2,5 months been able to recognize any problems with this installation for my (simple) Linux usage.
If you don’t need GPU acceleration.
It’s actually not: the AppImage does not need to be installed, just downloaded, then made executable (can be made via any file manager, I guess, or a single command like chmod +x Darktable-5.0.1-x86_64.AppImage), and then you double-click it to run. To upgrade, just replace the file. To ‘uninstall’, just delete it.
Please note - these are just my observations, I may be wrong in some cases.
@Damian_J
You should know that Linux and applications installed on Linux may behave completely differently than on Windows. What is obvious in Windows (you have access to OpenCL (GL?), you can run darktable from “inside” GIMP, you have access to all command line options) in Linux may depend on how you install a given program.
For example :
Darktable installed as a snap does not have access to all command line options, but it uses OpenCL on all graphics cards.
Darktable installed as a flatpak has all command line options, but only uses NVidia cards.
Darktable installed as an AppImage, flatpak or snap is not run from “inside” GIMP.
Darktable installed “the old way” can do everything (but I’m not sure).
When you encounter a strange problem - don’t be surprised
1 Like
Thank you for your replies. I’m in no hurry to move to version 5.0.1 on Linux, as I’m still using DT on Windows. I just wanted to know if DT works equally well on Linux. I received the answer that it does. And that’s good enough for me.
Thanks again and all the best. Enjoy editing your photos in Darktable.