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submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by tgirlschierke to c/onehundredninetysix

but seriously, look up photopea

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[-] stickly@lemmy.world 16 points 6 days ago

A lot of people in this thread getting real defensive about objectively shit FOSS UI/UX. It's not just driven by corporate familiarity or laziness, it's a pretty major shortcoming in open source projects that never gets addressed because we constantly downplay it.

Designing for user experience isn't solely Apple's modern consumerist method of dumbing down, hiding complexity and smoothing corners for the largest audience. Human centered design is a deeply researched field going back to (at minimum) the second industrial revolution. Tool ergonomics, assembly line efficiency, poka-yoke design, control panel layouts for nuclear power plants, etc, etc.

I'm not asking for a design masterpiece every time but just glance at some UX guides. Require a UI review process beyond "I like how it looks". And please, God, please condense your settings menus and make them searchable.

As someone who is planning to make software for others to use and have it be as user-friendly as possible, thank you... and I hope I can make something you can thank me for later.

[-] Sheik@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Are these western-centric UX guides only? Do you have UX information for different cultures?

[-] germanatlas 5 points 6 days ago

Also the next hbomberguy video will be delayed for another 3 months

[-] Truscape 188 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Honestly I would tell people like this screenshotted poster to suck it up or go fuck themselves, because this is free software that is provided for you as is and for use as you wish. If you think the software isn't "adjusted enough" to meet your needs, then place requests for features in the relevant channels, be patient and try to work with the existing tools on offer, or keep shelling out booku bucks for Adobe's continually enshittifying service.

Accept your fate with the corpos instead of bitching that the community effort options aren't in your Goldilocks zone, shitbag.

God, this is why I hated Apple users at my old IT job. They'd bitch about the continually enshittifying status quo of their software and platform, and in the same statement reject all alternatives for not being "a smooth transition".

Edit: on a more positive note, Kritia, FreeCAD, and Kdenlive are all great and multiplatform.

I think it's OK to complain about free software on social media. It's also OK to tell people that sometimes, if they want something to be better, they might need to be the ones to roll up their sleeves and make it happen. But not everyone has the time or the technical wherewithal to fix every tool they use. I sure couldn't implement every improvement I ever thought of for free software, I don't have the time.

But I think It's still nice, for maintainers and for people thinking about getting into open source, to get a rolling feel for what gripes a lot of people share about open software. If I have a problem and I know a lot of people share my frustration, I'm much more motivated to try to fix it than if it's something I and no one else care about.

[-] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 days ago

Peak Consumer Brain individuals cannot understand the concept of actually working together to make and accomplish things, all they know is 'confirm transaction' and 'overdraft fee'.

[-] mech@feddit.org 18 points 1 week ago

I think it’s OK to complain about free software on social media.

I think it's like complaining about a free product someone made in their own time and then delivered it to your doorstep.
If you don't like it, OK, don't use it. This isn't something you bought. Using the thing doesn't help the dev in any way, unless you also donate or contribute.

We live in a time where private FOSS devs of popular projects get buried under AI slop bug reports from multi-billion-$ corporations who use their work without paying, and death threats on social media if they made an unpopular change to the thing they put out there for free.

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[-] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 37 points 1 week ago

It's not the same, the idea is that you are suggesting things that are not suitable replacements. You can't then say "bUt ItS fReE sOfTwArE" as it that makes it a suitable replacement.

[-] Truscape 48 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

That's the kicker though. The poster framed it as Adobe was the only game in town that was abusing them, a friend told them about a service that was free and had their entire feature set, but it was rejected due to UI and platform concerns.

Not all free software will reach feature or UI parity with their proprietary competition. That's just reality. However, if you are paying a grand total of $0 for the alternative and have no interest in being constructive either through submitting a feature request or contributing code (donating doesn't have an obligation for anything so in this circumstance that wouldn't factor), then you should just either accept the software "as is" (which is a key component of most licenses), or accept that it's not for you.

Stay with the devil that you know if you disregard positioned alternatives for not being "suitable enough", and if you want to change that, be proactive and open-minded. Not bitch.

[-] accideath@feddit.org 26 points 1 week ago

I read it more as a critique on the self-satisfied recommendation for something that just isn’t the drop in replacement they’re making it out to be.

Don’t get me wrong, I love foss software. 3 out of 4 computers in my household run linux and I‘ve converted a handful of people already.

However, I couldn’t and wouldn’t replace photoshop with gimp/krita, premiere or davinci with kdenlive, etc. for the time being. Not because they’re bad but because I use them professionally and cannot take any risks. Adobe is shit but their software is a known quantity.

Privately, I would never pay for Adobe (not paying anyways, my boss does). And for personal use and maybe smaller (somewhat tech savvy) freelancers, I‘d absolutely recommend everyone at least try the FOSS alternatives.

But, I‘d never go „um akhtshually, foss program xy is just as good as adobe program xy“. Because while they might be as powerful in theory, that doesn’t help if they’re a hurdle to use.

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[-] JillyB@beehaw.org 25 points 1 week ago

I think this is a needlessly combative stance. If your goal is to get new users to engage with the development side, calling their criticism "bitching" isn't going to do that. Most software users don't have the first clue about software development and wouldn't even know what exactly to say if given a suggestion form. The best feedback a lot of new users can give is "the user experience is clunky and unintuitive".

[-] Truscape 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

My stance has been forged by the repeated disappointing interactions that I've had with people who I spend painstaking amounts of time illustrating how to solve their problems with these tools and why a certain design quirk is the way it is vs. the proprietary model.

Without fail, the kinds of users like the screenshotted poster will look at me with a blank face or reply in forum chats with the same statement: "But can't they just make it usable like [enshittified software] instead?"

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[-] youcantreadthis@quokk.au 17 points 1 week ago

Seriously fuck the boot lickers.

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[-] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 131 points 1 week ago

I see this genre of post going around a lot, and it just reeks of learned helplessness.

Yeah, I get it, sometimes you're stuck in a situation where, for whatever, the alternatives aren't viable or practical. You feel trapped. We all do. But why is the first instinct to gripe at the cool free software for not being quite what you wanted instead of getting mad at the rapidly enshittifying megacorps that put you into this trap you're in to begin with?

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 48 points 1 week ago

that, and it reeks of consumerism and a desire to feel superior.
"haha those stupid nerds and their shitty nerd software, i'm much more sensible for using corporate software that actually works (except it doesn't but ignore that)"

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[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 58 points 1 week ago

The great free software that works on windows and I have personally tried (some are only free for personal use, but others are completely free):

Have not tried

[-] JustEnoughDucks@slrpnk.net 1 points 6 days ago

Canva is absolute raging hot garbage that I wouldn't touch with a 100 meter pole if I didn't need to. Is their Affinity any better?

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago

So, I bought Affinity before it was sold to Canva and I haven't upgraded it. I have used the Canva free version on someone else's system. As of late last year, it's fantastic. It's the 3 programs in one, photoshop, illustrator and publisher. There is a little bit of learning curve, but some things are better than photoshop, but of course there are a few things worse. They're probably going to enhitify it, but that might take a couple of years. It's a great free version for now.

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[-] cybervseas@lemmy.world 42 points 1 week ago

Linux only? Yes please. Do you know your distro waifu/catgirl/catboy? It rules.

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[-] wrinkle2409@lemmy.cafe 40 points 1 week ago

If you don't want to face the inconvenience of learning something new to escape the grasp of technofeudalism suffer in silence, serf

[-] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 37 points 1 week ago

Oh no slight inconvenience, how will he ever deal with it

[-] JayDee@lemmy.world 32 points 1 week ago

This reads like someone who just isn't willing to learn whatever new workflow the software requires. If that's the issue, then that person will never leave their enshittified walled gardens. There is no workflow that matches or imitates the one you learned, it's probably copyrighted, you're best bet is to jump ship and learn a new paradigm.

Also, have yet to run into an alternative that's actively recommended which doesn't at least have a windows build. LibreOffice, Krita, Blender, Darktable, GIMP, Audacity, Inkscape, and Openshot - the most common recs as alternatives to apps, all have windows as an option.

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[-] hesh@quokk.au 31 points 1 week ago

Skill issue

[-] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago

More languages should be glyphic.

[-] gandalf_der_12te 7 points 1 week ago

found the chinese

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago

To be fair, open source apps usually have terrible UI

[-] germanatlas 7 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Hot take: adobe products also have shit UI and are actively being made worse; it’s just that people are used to it (at least until adobe decides to change something again)

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

I’m not thinking of any Adobe competitors, actually.

Yeah, there are lots of FOSS projects that have very obviously never had input from an artist or UI designer. The Venn diagram of “people who have the programming skills to make good FOSS” and “people who know how to design a good UI” consists of two almost entirely separate circles.

[-] Tottakai@europe.pub 1 points 6 days ago

And let’s not forget that FOSS is unfortunatly often just awful Elektron apps

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[-] gmtom@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

At least UIs are standard now, back in my day (and still some today) people would make everything a CLI and then bitch at you when you told them that their very computationally efficient video trimming tool is cool and all, but editing video from the terminal is worse than CBT.

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[-] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago

Ngl learning new UI is pretty easy.

[-] OldChicoAle@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

That's a young man's game

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[-] cybercafe@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago

I would love to be free of Adobe CC, but unfortunately this is the case. The alternatives are getting better, the gap is closing, but it is still there. Adobe's time will come, but it's not soon enough.

[-] Jentu@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 week ago

I've already learned Resolve and Motion, so I'm just waiting for my current project to be completely picture locked and out the door, then I'm done with Adobe for good! I almost have a countdown timer going I'm so excited haha

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this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2026
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