About me and this site
What is this about?
This is a video podcast about GIMP. Gimp is a very powerful image manipulation program. It is free (as in speech and in beer), it is open source and it runs on Linux (and other Unixes), Windows and MacOS. It can do nearly all the stuff you can do with Adobe® Photoshop® and more than a lot of other programs including Adobe® Photoshop® Elements®.
Gimp is made by a lot of people who give their time and skills into this project and have provided me with the means to post process my photographs on a Linux computer.
Now I want to give something back.
I am only a bad coder and would do more harm than good if I tried to contribute on that way. But I am a teacher by profession and I can teach about using Gimp. First I thought about writing tutorials, but John Arnold’s Photowalkthrough inspired me to try to do this by a screencast video.
What’s in the show/blog and what not?
It will cover programs and tools for the digital photographer that are Open Source in the GPL or BSD way of thinking. Other (closed source etc.) usefull stuff can be mentioned but will not be covered in the videos.
Photography topics, tips, techniques, links and so on are definitely not VERBOTEN and one or the other scientific or technical background will creep in too.
There will be no commercials or other advertisements on the show or the blog. Unpaid exceptions only for humanitarian stuff or Open Source projects. People who are supporting the show (e.g. 23 with sponsoring the challenges or the people below) get mentioned and linked.
Who am I?
My name is Rolf Steinort, I live in Bremen, Northern Germany and am a teacher for biology and chemistry in a school around the corner.
I am into photography for more decades than I care to count and use GIMP since 1997. That year I left Windows and OS/2 behind and joined the penguins.
I came into podcasting via some stints as the “Science Pixie” for Tips from the Top Floor, the award wining photography podcast.
Who is helping me from my audience?
In order of appearance:
Ruth (rmh1985) was my critical test audience for the shows you never saw, she forced 
me to start in earnest and manages the iTunes stuff. No Mac, no Windows -> no iTunes here.
Alec Burgess made a “fan page” and brought me offer the files I used in the video as a download.
Tim Jedlika shares some of his webspace to host the picture files.
Marcin installed a BitTorrent server for me to use and has some interesting plans for the future.
Joseph VanPelt did the video for episode 19 about the panorama software Hugin and is making more and more videos for this site.
Serge Gielkens follows the Open Source scene and reports about new releases and other interesting stuff.
Perhaps YOU, because you sent me a mail or wrote a comment that got me on the right track or helped me with the technical stuff.
Who else is helping me?
I am recording the screencast with Demorecorder by Christian Linhart. The program is very flexible and under constant development. Christian is very responsive to all questions and has even special discounts for educational purposes. No Open-Source - but well worth the money.
Editing is done with Cinelerra. It’s overkill for me, but the best fit I found on Linux. Ah, yes, I am using Ubuntu. On make.meetthegimp.org is a pathetic report about how and what I have done.
The podcast files have been hosted at podzilla.de up to the switch to an dedicated server. Podzilla has to be highly recommended for hosting podcasts - even if you are not in Germany.
Contact me
You can either leave a comment here in the blog or write me at info@meetthegimp.org.
See also the Impressum for the information necessary according to German law - and in case that you want to send me a postcard.
