While you're definitely right about it having a steep learning curve, it's also true that not many RAW editors do what Darktable does. Darktable aims at serving advanced, tecnically-minded users. It's complicated, but in a way, it's nice it is, for those who need it.
There's an important difference between powerful and difficult to use. Darktable lands solidly in the latter camp. This mythical power being used as an excuse is doubly frustrating as:
- Network effects mean competitors will struggle to gain traction
- Darktable shamelessly apes the Lightroom UI which gives a superficial impression that it'll be similarly intuitive. It's not.
My favorite interface behavior is that in Darktable clicking on empty space (accidentally or in an attempt to unfocus a widget) will usually send an event to a nearby widget. That's not power, that's just sloppy design. Oh and sliders give no indication of how to input an exact value.
Or there's color balance. There are two competing modules. One presents a complex and unintuitive interface, the other offers to mimic camera settings but triggers warnings if you dare touch it. In the way that Tesla makes cars for people who love gadgets but hate cars, Darktable is a product for folks who love monkeying with code but hate photography.
Ansel solves much of this, but brings its own shortcomings to the table.
> While you're definitely right about it having a steep learning curve, it's also true that not many RAW editors do what Darktable does.
If a Darktable developer happens to read this, I'd suggest looking at Nitro¹ for inspiration. I use it with Photos, and although Nitro doesn't need Photos (i.e. it can work directly with the filesystem), it's a good way to experience both "easy" and user-friendly "expert" paths.
> It's complicated, but in a way, it's nice it is, for those who need it.
Same argument for linux :) Darktable can do so much more than Lightroom (minus the AI stuff), so why not make it more accessible under a beginner mode. You'd have more people using the software, benchmarking features, logging crashes etc. You might even attract a few interested developers also at the same time or donators.
