[antiRepublicrat]

As for the GIMP, IMO it was designed to be a casual-user replacement for Photoshop--and not intended as a replacement in professional use.

Here we run into the difference between the person who suggests the practical uses of OSS and the zealot. People are out there right now trying to use Gimp for pro work, but they suffer in quality ("I don't care if the color is a little off") and expense by having the service bureau do the final-stage Photoshop for them to make it ready for print.

From the service bureau side, it's about as annoying as those who send for-print jobs in Microsoft Publisher.

[rzeznikj at stout]

I use the GIMP for day-to-day usage. In other words, it's sufficient for my purposes.

I'm no longer studying graphic arts, and since my working of images doesn't necessarily have to be professional grade, (or fully prepared for offset printing) I no longer require access to Photoshop to get the task done.

But if I got back to doing any professional work, I'd just purchase copies of Photoshop 7 and CxO Pro--and run that on Linux.

Here we run into the difference between the person who suggests the practical uses of OSS and the zealot

Excellent point, though unfortunately, some posters refuse to acknowledge this difference.