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See the original image at news.cnet.com —

Google's Picasa for Linux catches up to Windows

news.cnet.com — Linux catches up to Windows with a new version of Google's Picasa software for photo editing and cataloging. Still nothing for Mac OS X, though.

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  • pickture, on 10/03/2008, -2/+55Not that I'm not thankful for this, but it still runs through Wine.
    • chr00t, on 10/03/2008, -1/+41Agreed, I like the fact that @ least google is contributing patches to wine project though
      • yurimxpxman, on 10/03/2008, -19/+5***** wine.
      • greensky, on 10/03/2008, -0/+13Even though it's wine, it still runs really well. It's way better than nothing.
      • rfcompte, on 10/04/2008, -0/+3There's F-Spot and Digikam
    • MWeather, on 10/03/2008, -3/+10Who cares what API it uses? So long as it doesn't need to be run on an emulator or in a VM, I'm happy. Wine is in many way a better implementation of the win32 API than Windows itself.
      • Gavagai80, on 10/03/2008, -0/+7Anybody who doesn't like stupid .ini files littering every directory cares.
      • MWeather, on 10/05/2008, -0/+2I generally don't browse through directories containing binaries, so I never really noticed.
    • a0peter, on 10/03/2008, -0/+2For something similar in gtk check out IntiPunku:
      http://intipunku.blogspot.com/
      • fatas, on 10/05/2008, -0/+2wow never heard about this before but seems to suffer the same problems as other gnome applications.
    • SmartAssProds, on 10/04/2008, -0/+12Agreed. I got excited when I read the title, but once I read the article and saw that it's really just the windoze version running via wine, I bailed. I have a zillion graphics/photo editing programs available to me, so I'll wait for when (if?) Picasa comes out as a native Linux app. But I do give props to Google for doing their part to support wine.
    • emblemparade, on 10/04/2008, -5/+11It doesn't run "through" WINE, it uses the WINE library as a GUI toolkit. There really isn't a huge difference between choosing to use WINE or hoosing to use Qt. WINE is a cross-platform API, just like Qt is. It's a perfectly reasonable choice for developing cross-platform applications. The win32 API has been very stable for years, and there are tonnes of resources and tools for using it.

      I think some people are confusing the fact that WINE has a tool for running Windows applications in a simulated Windows environment. That is emphatically not what Picasa is using.

      People complaining that this is a "Windows version" probably never tried it. Picasa 3 integrates very nicely in the GNOME desktop, and is overall a terrific application, much better than the other similar offerings from hobbyists. Picasa 2 did have some quirks, but they seem to have been worked out in 3.

      And great kudos to Google for contributing many excellent patches to the WINE project.
      • zerblat, on 10/04/2008, -0/+10Now you're just making stuff up.

        It definitely runs "through WINE". If you had downloaded and installed it, you would find Picasa3.exe (a Windows executable), a complete, private installation of WINE, and a couple of wrapper scripts that simply run Picasa3.exe through WINE.

        Just like previous versions of Picasa.
    • slugicide, on 10/04/2008, -2/+5Yeah, that was really disappointing. I'm not going to use any of those half-assed Google for Linux apps. I don't know why such a huge company that publicly shows love for Linux privately treats it like a red-headed stepchild.
  • blooby, on 10/03/2008, -0/+14It has actually worked in Wine for a while now, but I believe this integrates better with the Linux desktop. It seems though that Google's repository hasn't been updated yet.
  • Vadi0, on 10/03/2008, -0/+30 * rpm, for Red Hat/Fedora/Suse/Mandriva i386 or x86_64:
    http://dl.google.com/linux/rpm/testing/i386/picasa ...
    * deb, for Debian/Ubuntu i386:
    http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/pool/non-free/p/pic ...
    * deb, for Debian/Ubuntu amd64:
    http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/pool/non-free/p/pic ...

    Repositories (I guess Picasa 3 is in the testing one): http://www.google.com/linuxrepositories/testrepo.h ...
    • ethana2, on 10/03/2008, -0/+3Thanks!
      This will be my first time really trying picasa I think.
    • amoeba, on 10/03/2008, -0/+3thanks, this should have been mentioned in the article. Adding the repositories is the way to go as that way you get notified automatically of updates.
  • smrekar, on 10/03/2008, -10/+16isn't picasa for Mac OS X called iphoto?
    • dougbarrett, on 10/03/2008, -2/+11Yeah, I don't feel the Apple community is missing out on this one. Google even provides a plugin for iPhoto to upload photos to Picasa.
      • MWeather, on 10/03/2008, -0/+4And facial recognition image tagging?
      • RobotBuddha, on 10/03/2008, -0/+2The plugin tends to crash on me fairly often.
      • donsherio, on 10/04/2008, -0/+4Picasa =/= Picasa Web Albums. Apple users aren't looking for the ability to upload online. We're looking for the Picasa way of doing things, like not requiring us to keep photos in a certain directory on the computer.
    • Daniel591992, on 10/03/2008, -2/+8Sarcasm?
    • AtWorkSurfer, on 10/03/2008, -0/+17The neat thing about Picasa, compared to iPhoto, is that it doesn't alter the original image files, nor does it make copies of them, but instead it stores all of your edits in a small file in each picture folder that allows each instance of the program to re-create the changes made to each photo. You can keep all of your photos neatly organized on one machine in their original, unedited form, and every machine on your network can access the photos and see all of the changes that have been made. But right now that system only works if you run only Linux and Windows. If they released Picasa for OS X, then Picasa would make a very good be-all and end-all photo management system.
    • thetanman, on 10/04/2008, -0/+4Picasa is the only thing I really miss on my mac. I've got the latest iPhoto, have CS3, but I use Picasa on my PC for almost all my personal photo needs. Picasa web albums work pretty well, also.
  • newserr, on 10/03/2008, -12/+5Picasa Picaso, tomato tomahto, i phota iphoto.
  • Shadoglare, on 10/03/2008, -0/+2I'll have to see if the new version actually runs under OpenSuse yet....
  • Junior612, on 10/03/2008, -3/+6I used to upload to Picasa web with an iPhoto plugin, but now it crashes iPhoto every time I try it.

    Editing and storing photos on my PC sucks because they never look the same as on my Mac (yes I'm using 2.1 gamma and 65 white point on my mac via sRGB IEC1966-2.1 color profile and yes I am using the same profile with Vista).

    Plus Picasa web is the only free option for someone who wants to host more than 200 pictures at a time (if I am wrong let me know).
    • FredFredrickson, on 10/03/2008, -2/+4Statistically speaking, most people are going to be viewing the pics from a PC anyway, so make sure they look right there first.
  • ghetek, on 10/03/2008, -11/+4well generally i think google makes applications that run on serious computers (windows, linux), not too often they support software to run on toys.
    • czeman, on 10/03/2008, -1/+5What the ***** are you talking about?
      • ArthurSucks, on 10/05/2008, -1/+4It's a failed attempt to bash Apple.
  • BlackJackJester, on 10/03/2008, -1/+12Yea...but Apple doesn't allow room for competition of their software on their platform.
    • srg13, on 10/04/2008, -1/+4How does Apple control in any way what software is developed for its platform? I don't own an Apple computer, but anyone can see that their software platform is far more open than Windows - I mean, the whole kernel and userspace is open source, and they ship an excellent development environment free with the OS!
      • BlackJackJester, on 10/04/2008, -1/+4The same way you can only run OSX on Apple hardware*.

        *sans Hackintosh
      • mrBitch, on 10/05/2008, -0/+2@srg13 RE: " ... anyone can see that their (Apple) software platform is far more open than Windows - I mean, the whole kernel and userspace is open source, and they ship an excellent development environment free with the OS! "

        Anyone that is able to compare ALL platforms can see what you see, but those that only use Windows will never see this.
  • jonsterling, on 10/03/2008, -4/+3Nothing is needed for Mac OS X in the area of Picasa, because we have iPhoto. I used Picasa on Windows and Linux until I bought my Macbook, and I am far more satisfied with iPhoto. Although, I haven't yet tried the new version of Picasa.
    • Scottievm, on 10/03/2008, -0/+10I love my Macbook and OSX, but I still much prefer Picasa over iPhoto, and really hope that Google will eventually bring out an OSX version. Hopefully sooner than later...
    • shaftbond, on 10/03/2008, -0/+7I'll second Scottievm. iPhoto < Picasa
    • donsherio, on 10/04/2008, -0/+6Picasa does a lot of things differently than iPhoto, and a LOT of people prefer it over iPhoto. THATS why people want it.
    • mesostinky, on 10/04/2008, -1/+3Picasa >>> Iphoto in just about every way possible.

      Picasa for OSX is never going to happen, Period. Thanks a lot Google.
  • pcghost, on 10/03/2008, -0/+10Watch out for the Picasa Web EULA though. It gives god powers over your pictures to Google. Read it sometime, it sucks. I really like Picasa, but I refuse to use the online component.
  • malechite, on 10/03/2008, -1/+3i use Aperture on the mac...
    • srg13, on 10/04/2008, -1/+2Why can't anyone use the reply button?
  • restedev, on 10/03/2008, -0/+4Speaking of Picasa, its coolest feature (face recognition) is finally coming to Facebook!
    http://www.new.facebook.com/apps/application.php?i ...
    • stretch611, on 10/04/2008, -0/+2I'm shocked, someone using Facebook and cool in the same sentence?
  • joshzam, on 10/03/2008, -1/+3From the Picasa for Linux web site:
    Downloading from Picasa Web Albums requires a Mozilla-based browser like Firefox.

    This apparently means that this function will not work with Google's own Chrome. Interesting.
    • johnboyholmes, on 10/04/2008, -0/+6That would be really interesting if there was an official version of chrome for linux but there isn't, so of course it requires another browser for web albums.
      • joshzam, on 10/06/2008, -0/+2Touche. Allow me to digg you as I see myself out...
  • 2Pharcyded, on 10/03/2008, -7/+1buried for a poor title in grammar
  • koick, on 10/03/2008, -2/+5For the love of all that's Google, please make a Mac version!
    • RobotBuddha, on 10/04/2008, -0/+3The good news is that a mac port is in progress. The bad, is that it also uses wine.
  • LordBacon, on 10/03/2008, -4/+6Mac OS X ?! Never heard of that
  • ahmedinejad, on 10/03/2008, -2/+1good for picasa
  • travbrack, on 10/03/2008, -0/+5Are they going to do this same thing for Chrome too?
  • krum, on 10/03/2008, -0/+6But is there a command line version?
  • nunquam, on 10/04/2008, -0/+5I moved from PC to Mac a year ago (still love both) and the ONLY thing I miss is Picasa. It's intuitive, quick and efficient. And no, for me iPhoto doesn't match up. Please hurry up Google.
  • stealthc, on 10/04/2008, -0/+2One more hurdle to switching OSes down.
  • hellbent88, on 10/04/2008, -1/+2woo
  • watcht, on 10/04/2008, -0/+4I thought it was a wineless version, linux native edition, regardless thanks google...p.s. what about that chrome now? Preferably linux native :)
  • greensky, on 10/04/2008, -0/+2I wish it would play movie files. Other than that Picasa for Linux works really well for me.
  • anshuman, on 10/04/2008, -4/+2too late , I have moved to Mac, it actually is the perfect linux. believe me.
  • RolandDeschain, on 10/04/2008, -0/+3I really don't understand why they do "official Linux releases" for Picasa, as the Linux "version" is the exact same program as the Windows version - if you don't believe me, download the windows .exe and install it. I've been running the "Windows Only" 3.0 since it was released as beta in OpenSUSE 11.

    Like pickture said, both run through Wine, so if you keep Wine updated all you have to do is use the (more often updated) Windows version. There simply isn't any reason to wait for a Linux release.
  • sdmahesh06, on 10/07/2008, -0/+2oh...it's really amazing,but i have one doubt how the lineux with windows?different platforms!this is funny..
  • emblemparade, on 10/07/2008, -0/+2Thanks! I really don't know that there is a Windows .EXE in there.

    But, still not a big deal. This .EXE can't be identical to the Windows .EXE. Google definitely make a lot of extensions specifically for GNOME. I guess they decided to just use the same development environment for both Windows and Linux.

    The WINE .EXE loader is not too big of an overhead, but it would still be nice to see Google get rid of it. I think though that my original point holds. Picasa 3 works great for me.
  • dankegel, on 10/07/2008, -0/+3Hi! I'm one of the Picasa for Linux developers. We make a point of contributing all our Wine fixes to the public Wine tree as we go, that's why the Windows version works so well on plain old Wine. The Linux release adds familiar .deb / .rpm packaging, and also features improved integration into the Linux desktop. So use whichever one you prefer, we're happy either way. You probably want the Linux version given a choice, though.
  • hieronymouse, on 11/23/2008, -0/+0Picasa 3 gets stuck, then crashes, in my Ubuntu 8.10 installation, after importing about 15,000 pictures from an external hard drive. If I keep restarting, I can get up to about 30,000 pictures, but by then it begins to crash every few seconds. This behavior does not occur on the same hardware under Vista. I'm using a recent dual core intel HP laptop with 2 GB of RAM.
  • markbaas, on 12/03/2008, -0/+0Hi, I have developed an alternative for Picasa. In short for people that do not know Intipunku yet. IntiPunku is a photo manager which aims at feature richness and ease of use. Originally the idea was to create a clone of the popular photo manager Picasa on windows, however Intipunku has already gone much far ahead of Picasa. It can upload fotos to either Picasaweb and Flickr, adjust fotos, red eyes, panoramas etc.
    It has native support for Linux, Mac OSX and even windows.

    Try it out at http://intipunku.berlios.de
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