Petition to Replace Gwenview with Nomacs as Default for Both MX19 and MX21

[Arnox]

It could be that Gwenview has some features I'm not aware of that Nomacs doesn't, but I've confirmed that when loading an image from a folder with over 1000 images in it, Gwenview will immediately try to cache thumbnails of every single image in that folder which, if the folder is on an HDD, results in MASSIVE slowdowns at the first run on every bootup. The slowdowns are so bad even that Gwenview will be almost completely unresponsive for about 10-15 seconds. Nomacs however has no such issue whatsoever and seems to have the same functionality as Gwenview while also loading images instantaneously and without issue.

[dolphin_oracle]

Nomacs will save over file without asking when using its shortcut keys. It’s why it not preinstalled on any mx flavor now. It is available though.

[chrispop99]

It's odd that whilst there are many image viewers for Linux, every one of them seems to miss a feature, or have a problem.

As long as you don't need the ability to print your images, 'qimgv' in in the Main repo, and is very fast.

For myself I will continue to use Nomacs; its 'Save for web' is something I use on a daily basis, and I don't use the shortcut keys in any case.

Chris

[Arnox]

Nomacs will save over file without asking when using its shortcut keys. It’s why it not preinstalled on any mx flavor now. It is available though.

Any shortcut keys in particular? Do you mean it will uselessly save over the file and change the Date Modified value in the process?

EDIT: I experimented around with a test image and flipped it 90 degrees and then closed the file and reopened it. While it did remember the orientation of the file I set, it didn't actually write to the file itself. Could that be what you were referring to?

[markol]

I use Gwenview but I also install qview just for cases like that (open image from email, large and/or network folders...) -> https://interversehq.com/qview/

[Stuart_M]

I experimented around with a test image and flipped it 90 degrees and then closed the file and reopened it. While it did remember the orientation of the file I set, it didn't actually write to the file itself. Could that be what you were referring to?

That behavior is not what I experience. With the default Nomacs settings, using a keyboard shortcut to rotate an image does indeed write to the file as indicated by the "Date Modified" time being changed. The file manager must be set to display the time for that and not just "Today" or similar to see the change. When you say "it didn't actually write to the file itself", are you saying that the time stamp for that file remained the same?

Arnox might be interested in this viewtopic.php?f=108&t=65914 thread that addressed the issue of changing an image's orientation in Nomacs while writing to a file without being asked. My Post #10 in that link shows a solution.

To reiterate and clarify a little, when using the default Nomacs settings, after an image is rotated using the keyboard shortcuts R (90° CW) or Shift+R (90° CCW), Nomacs will update the associated image file when it closes. This means that the time stamp for that file will change.

Before the fix, that silent change will only occur when using the keyboard shortcuts R or Shift+R. If the image is rotated using the Toolbar menu (Adjustments > Flip Horizontal or Vertical or Rotate), then when the image is closed, a prompt will appear asking to save the change(s).

The fix I mentioned in the above thread was to simply go to Settings > Advanced > de-select "Save Exif Orientation". That setting is enabled by default. I think it should be disabled by default.

So far there is only one thing Nomacs does that will silently change a file that I have not been able to find a solution to, and that is when changing the Star Rating of an image. That is done by just entering a number 0-5. When the image is closed after that is done, there will not be any prompt to save the change and the image "Date Modified" time stamp will change.

Also, if another edit occurs that normally does prompt to save, the prompt to save will appear, and selecting "No" will (correctly) close the window without saving the edited change, but the Star Rating will be saved even though no saving was selected. Nice, uh?

To display the Star rating, use the keyboard shortcut "I" (i as in "India") (or right click on the Nomacs window and select "File Info").

As far as I know, the only changes Nomacs will make to an image file without prompting for the change is when changing the Star Rating for an image by pressing a number key 0-5 while an image is displayed. Beware of using keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+0, Ctrl+1, and Ctrl+3 that change an image size. If you press the number key before the Control key for this key combination, it will write to the image file when closed, unless the file does not have any write permissions (all my image files are read only).

[Arnox]

I experimented around with a test image and flipped it 90 degrees and then closed the file and reopened it. While it did remember the orientation of the file I set, it didn't actually write to the file itself. Could that be what you were referring to?

That behavior is not what I experience. With the default Nomacs settings, using a keyboard shortcut to rotate an image does indeed write to the file as indicated by the "Date Modified" time being changed. The file manager must be set to display the time for that and not just "Today" or similar to see the change. When you say "it didn't actually write to the file itself", are you saying that the time stamp for that file remained the same?

Arnox might be interested in this viewtopic.php?f=108&t=65914 thread that addressed the issue of changing an image's orientation in Nomacs while writing to a file without being asked. My Post #10 in that link shows a solution.

To reiterate and clarify a little, when using the default Nomacs settings, after an image is rotated using the keyboard shortcuts R (90° CW) or Shift+R (90° CCW), Nomacs will update the associated image file when it closes. This means that the time stamp for that file will change.

Before the fix, that silent change will only occur when using the keyboard shortcuts R or Shift+R. If the image is rotated using the Toolbar menu (Adjustments > Flip Horizontal or Vertical or Rotate), then when the image is closed, a prompt will appear asking to save the change(s).

The fix I mentioned in the above thread was to simply go to Settings > Advanced > de-select "Save Exif Orientation". That setting is enabled by default. I think it should be disabled by default.

So far there is only one thing Nomacs does that will silently change a file that I have not been able to find a solution to, and that is when changing the Star Rating of an image. That is done by just entering a number 0-5. When the image is closed after that is done, there will not be any prompt to save the change and the image "Date Modified" time stamp will change.

Also, if another edit occurs that normally does prompt to save, the prompt to save will appear, and selecting "No" will (correctly) close the window without saving the edited change, but the Star Rating will be saved even though no saving was selected. Nice, uh?

To display the Star rating, use the keyboard shortcut for File Info "I" (or right click on the Nomacs window and select "File Info").

As far as I know, the only changes Nomacs will make to an image file without prompting for the change is when changing the Star Rating for an image by pressing a number key 0-5 while an image is displayed. Beware of using keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+0, Ctrl+1, and Ctrl+3 that change an image size. If you press the number key before the Control key for this key combination, it will write to the image file when closed, unless the file does not have any write permissions (all my image files are read only).

Looks like this is confirmed. I put the image on the desktop, but for some reason, the desktop doesn't update when a file is changed and even the Properties will read the same, so it looked like Nomacs wasn't doing anything when I rotated the image, but it actually was. Yeah, that's no bueno.

That really sucks because if it wasn't for that one thing, it would have been a perfect image viewer. I'll try some of the others people have mentioned here now.

[SwampRabbit]

Nomacs also hasn’t had any commits/updates in almost a year and has 337 open Issues, which is not good when you want to use it as a default.
https://github.com/nomacs/nomacs

The aforementioned issue is one of them.

Image viewers are one of those things that different people want different things so it’s hard to pick the best for everyone and all use cases, but we have to go with one that is in active development and at least attempts to address users’ concerns to some degree.

[duane]

Well regardless of what anyone else does I will probably still be using Gwenview and Okular. I always install both if they are not installed.
I have been using them both for years since I was a Mepis user first before MX Linux came along.

[Stuart_M]

...one thing Nomacs does that will silently change a file that I have not been able to find a solution to, and that is when changing the Star Rating of an image. ...

I found a solution that will keep Nomacs from silently modifying an image file when selecting a Star Rating as described in my Post #6 above, which is to simply remove the Nomacs keyboard shortcuts (there are six) that give it a Star Rating. In Nomacs, go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts > expand "Shortcuts" > at each of the six "Star Rating" entries (0-5), just make one mouse click on the "X" on the far right column. That's it. The shortcut will be removed and it takes place immediately.

(I realize that if making Star Ratings is desired or if having an image file silently being modified without first being asked is of no concern, then this post will be of no help.)

In summary, these are the two steps needed that will keep Nomacs from silently modifying an image file:

1. Settings > Advanced > de-select "Save Exif Orientation"
2. Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts > expand "Shortcuts" > remove the six "Star Rating" shortcut keys (0-5).

Unrelated to the above, I tested qimgv (Test Repo) and Gwenview (Stable Repo) and I like both very much (thanks chrispop99 for the qimgv recommendation).