Changes/Gimp 3

GIMP version 3

This is a proposed Change for Fedora Linux.
This document represents a proposed Change. As part of the Changes process, proposals are publicly announced in order to receive community feedback. This proposal will only be implemented if approved by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee.

Summary

This change introduces the upcoming major version 3 of the GNU Image Manipulation Program in Fedora Linux.

Owner

• Name: Nils Philippsen
• Email: nphilipp -at- redhat.com (or nils -at- tiptoe.de)

Current status

• Targeted release: Fedora Linux 41
• Last updated: 2024-06-20
• Announced
• Discussion thread
• FESCo issue: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
• Tracker bug: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
• Release notes tracker: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>

Detailed Description

The GIMP project intends to release the major version 3 of the GNU Image Manipulation Program later this year.

This new version involves substantial changes to the technologies used, which in turn means that third party plugins have to be ported to be compatible. Therefore, this change will add the new version as a new package gimp3 which can be installed side-by-side with the existing version 2.x package, so people can continue working on existing projects with the old gimp version and its plugins.

In order to make upgrades seamless for users (and avoid having to go through an exception process for a “new” gimp2 package needing Python 2.x), the existing package will remain named gimp and it plus gimp3 will obsolete the version 2.x packages from Fedora Linux <= 40 in version 41.

Feedback

Alternative proposals were made, e.g. in the respective thread on the devel mailing list:

• Replacing version 2 with version 3 wholesale, without possibility for parallel installation, starting in Fedora Linux 41.
  This would force users to choose between using either using version 2.x or 3.x of GIMP, and it might make users with existing GIMP projects stay longer on an older version of Fedora Linux than they would do otherwise.
• Add gimp2 for the old version, let gimp become version 3 in Fedora Linux 41 …
  This would need an exception for the gimp2 package, as it needs Python 2.x.
  • … and introduce version 3 as gimp3 in Fedora Linux <= 40. This would come along with even more packaging churn, it would introduce gimp3 only for two existing Fedora versions and then obsolete the package, also makes the upgrade obsolete dance from 40 to 41 more complicated than it needs to be.
  • … and only introduce GIMP version 3 in Fedora Linux >= 41. This would withhold the benefits of the new GIMP version to users of older Fedora Linux versions without a technical need to do so.

Benefit to Fedora

This change upgrades GIMP to a version which doesn’t use ancient 2.x versions of both GTK and Python anymore. Other than many new features including better color management and the support of CMYK import/export, it greatly improves user experience with certain input devices such as tablets and on displays with very high resolutions. Developers of plugins using Python can now use packages and language features which simply don’t exist in Python 2.x.

Scope

• Proposal owners:
  • Make (pre-releases) available as gimp3 in Rawhide and existing Fedora Linux versions.
  • Ensure users of gimp get both versions when upgrading their OS to Fedora Linux 41.
  • Ensure comps is updated to refer to the new GIMP version from Fedora Linux 41 on.

• Other developers: Maintainers of third party plugins work with their respective upstreams to either find out if they have been ported to GIMP 3.x, or assist in porting and make such ports available in Fedora.

• Release engineering: This is a self-contained change and doesn’t require that release engineering is involved.

• Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)

• Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)

• Alignment with the Fedora Strategy: This change doesn’t particularly relate to the the current Fedora Strategy, but it aligns well with “Freedom”, “Features” and maybe ”First” of the Fedora Foundations.

Upgrade/compatibility impact

The plan is that existing users of gimp end up with both this package and the new version as gimp3. It should be possible to install either version without pulling in the other on Fedora Linux >= 41 (if technically feasible).

User Experience

A number of third party GIMP plugins are available to be installed as packages on Fedora Linux. With the continued availability of version 2.x of GIMP, these packages can still be installed and used with the old version. Whether or not these plugins will support the new GIMP version very much depends on the particular plugin, or rather the upstream projects for these plugins. Therefore it’s a bit early to make plans for packaging plugins available for both GIMP versions at this point.

Contingency Plan

• Contingency mechanism: Not ship the package, bump “seamless update” measures to be effective in Fedora Linux 42.
• Contingency deadline: Beta Freeze
• Blocks release? No

Documentation

• https://gimp.org/
• https://developer.gimp.org/core/roadmap/#gimp-30-development-branch-roadmap
• https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/issues/10373#timeline

Release Notes

This release of Fedora Linux ships version 3 of the GNU Image Manipulation Program, with many new features and improved user experience. The package is called gimp3, the old version will still be available under the old name, gimp for users who need it for existing projects.