Linux and photography do mix
Photographer Shannon Smith wrote a very interesting post on his use of Linux for photography.
Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever met a professional photographer who didn’t use a Mac, but Shannon goes to great lengths to demonstrate that a Linux system – in his case, running Ubuntu – can do everything that a pro might need.
“I wanted to post this thread to hopefully dispel some of the more common Linux myths out there. For most people, the thought of running Linux ranks somewhere below cutting your own arm of with a rusty knife and dental surgery without novacaine. This really couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve been running linux for the past 3 years, and many people I know have switched.”
What sort of myths does he mean? Things like Linux being too complicated and difficult to use (it’s not, he says); or like hardware not being supported (most of it is, he says); or like the right software isn’t available (maybe not the software you’re used to, but there’s bound to be an alternative on offer, he argues).
Shannon’s argument is strong but I think many people trying Ubuntu out for a while would struggle to be as productive as they were in whatever system they switched from. I’m quite technically proficient, but I’ve struggled to make Linux-based systems work the way I want them to. As for Shannon’s point about the GIMP image editor – even if I accepted his point that 8 bit images are good enough for most purposes, I’d argue that the GIMP is a long, long way from being as useful to photographers as the likes of Lightroom or Aperture, and Photoshop too.
But in other respects, you can’t argue with his summary. Using Linux saves you a lot of money, and gives you lots of choice when it comes to hardware.
I’d say, though, that in the long term it does mean more work, because newbies spend more time trying to get the computer to do what you want it to – including the time spent consulting the ever-helpful Linux community for advice. But maybe that’s just my experience.
