Linux Journal | December 2012 | Issue 224 - ACM Digital Library

INDEPTHvariables and even multiprocessingcapabilities are needed to completetasks quickly; however, with theadvent of SIMD-based processors(graphics card/processors) andOpenCL, it is now much easier forgraphics-intense applications toleverage their work on SIMD enginesfor faster processing.However, the current state ofGEGL/OpenCL is dismal in Linux.GEGL doesn’t scale well, and infact, it performs much slower whencompared to plain CPU-basedprocessing. This could very wellbe the AMD driver’s fault, as itsOpenCL support and performancein Linux is still flaky.GEGL also has developed supportfor higher-bit image processing,which is still in development andshould debut with GIMP 2.10.Developers have already laid outa plan for fully functional andcomplete GEGL integration withGIMP 2.10, so in future releases, allthe functions will be done in parallelusing OpenCL code stack.Closing ThoughtsWith many nifty add-ons, suchas mathematical calculations inresize windows, improved cagetransformation tools and APIchanges for simplified script writing,GIMP 2.8 has come a long way andis a far cry from its older versions.The revamped UI and newunderlying code have given GIMPa much-needed momentum. WithGIMP 2.8, developers have coveredmany milestones, providing a moreenhanced interface along withbleeding-edge OpenCL acceleration.However, GEGL support andthe dismal OpenCL performance,at least under Linux, have keptme thinking. With refinementsevery day, I believe that withGIMP 2.10, we will have full-blownOpenCL-accelerated image editing.Looking forward, GIMP 2.10 and3.0 will bring an even more massivechangelog, making it a worthycompetitor to proprietary solutions.With GIMP 2.8, developers havecleared many hurdles that hinderedits mass adoption. The clunkyinterface is more usable and intuitivethan ever. GIMP 2.8 establishes itselfas one of the premier open-sourcealternatives to proprietary solutions,providing bleeding-edge solutionswith an intuitive interface and anever-improving ecosystem.■Shashwat Pant is a FOSS enthusiast and hardware freak. Helikes to tweak his hardware for optimum performance. He isan IT Engineering student studying in India and likes to reviewthe latest FOSS software and distributions.106 / DECEMBER 2012 / WWW.LINUXJOURNAL.COM