Why Are Open Source Alternatives So Bad?

Want to switch to Linux or tired of paying ridiculous amounts of money for Adobe products? Just switch to these open source alternatives. But if you've ever used any of the popular open-source software alternatives, you've probably been disappointed. Why can't GIMP come close to the power of Photoshop? Why isn't there a decent open source video editor yet? Is open source software doomed to be worse than proprietary software, or is there hope for it yet?

A lot of ideas for this video came from this articles by Koos Looijesteijn. Check them out if you want to learn more about open-source software and how to make it better:

0:00 The problem with open-source alternatives
2:30 Which open-source software are we talking about?
4:07 Where's the money?
5:39 Why is the UI so bad?
8:46 Software matters
9:32 Can open-source do better?
12:28 Conclusion

[EricMurphyxyz]

I didn't mean to beat up on GIMP so much, but they were the most obvious example of the issues with FOSS. I'm aware they're working on GIMP 3.0 which should hopefully solve a lot of issues with GIMP. At the same time, it's taken them decades to deliver on basic features like adjustment layers. Wish the devs the best though, all love ✌

[zoox]

GIMP is not a competitor to Photoshop; Photoshop is an image manipulator while GIMP is a puzzle-based image modifier.

[SpunkMcKullins]

OBS over here as the final boss of the Internet, single-handedly fueling an entire modern entertainment medium.

[arnauadell]

And then there's Blender, just casually being the industry standard.

[jersydvl]

Open Source is AWESOME. Especially now that Adobe claims ownership of anything you created with their software

[loganfairbairn]

Blender is a perfect example of open-source working as intended, I hope more open-source software moves that way.

[frenchcreekvalley]

Okay for open source, but how about buying commercial software that doesn't require "subscriptions"? Why can't I just OWN anything any more?

[VectorNodes]

Open source contributor and artist here. Inkscape is awesome. The only valid consumer complaint I’ve heard is the learning curve, but there are valid dev complaints in the code base, as with most software.

Also Krita is another great example. That’s top tier industry standard raster painting software

[pokaev]

0:07 Bro had the audacity to call Audacity bad

[bar]

I think its ironic that Blender's biggest proprietary competitor Maya, suffers from the 90's UI that Open Source software is known for

[supercheetah]

OBS is one of the few that doesn't have a proprietary equivalent.

[ThonyVezbe]

I don't think open source developers tend to "make something different just because they can" when it comes to UI, it's also a way to prevent lawsuits.

[prosto]

Why everybody speaks about GIMP as open-source image editor while Krita exists?

[Posiman]

I remember posting a bug report on GIMP forum. There was an issue in a way it hadled Czech diacritics in text. One guy posted ten replies about me being a total idiot, who can't setup my language settings properly and angrily closed the issue as being stupid and irrelevant.

16 months later another guy reopened it and said they've fixed the issue in the latest release and they thank me for my feedback.

I love open source, but you are right about the communication sometimes being a little difficult...

[haydenlee]

I also used to hate Blender for how clunky and unintuitive it used to be….
… and then came Blender 2.8 with the UI overhaul. I never needed to look back to Maya ever again since then

[DavidKnowsAudio]

They arent bad. You just dont inow what apps to use, krita... Blender... Handbreak... OBS...

[Omio]

There's more to this, because - get this - there are *patents* on written code, meaning if you even use it for reference, it's technically intellectual property theft.

It's stupid to me too, and that's why I want to support FOSS more than paid products.

[Tinyflower]

meanwhile here in the gamedev world, blender is already an industry standard (i was taught in maya and zbrush but now use blender professionally), krita is irreplaceable when it comes to seamless textures thanks to wraparound mode and godot is getting better and better and what we are using for the current project

[juliopcrj]

The whole internet runs on free and open source software.

It's not that "open source alternatives are bad", but "these specific FOSS alternatives do not do the same as the prorietary thing".

[darealjohnsmith]

I once attempted to compare Photoshop to GIMP. My PC back then was pretty low-spec, but Photoshop was unusable. Just running it at all lagged my PC terribly. GIMP was at least usable.