As of now, I'm not doing much with my Linux box. I'm still struggling to get
some video drivers to "claim" my Intel on-board video card. It'd be ideal to
find a Linux-based photo management package that'll read the ACDSee tags I've
put on all my pics.

I have intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express
Graphics Controller in my lap top and never a moment of problem. I took
a live CD to the shop and tried booting my potentials up before i
bought. one option is to check and ask on you local
freecycle/kijiji/craigslist for a suitable card and disable the onboard
video.

this fellow has a script for importing acdsee tags into digicam (which
I sorta use: osdir.com/.../msg00112.html

I like shophoto for most editing as its got 24 bit colour depth which
has not hit gimp yet.

Well, that'd be a fine idea 'cept for the fact that it's a laptop. :-\ My video
problems really only showed up when I tried to run Google Earth. Normal
operations and even viewing picture files works fine. I think part of the
problem is that mine is a new install with no legacy drivers to relay on. I
haven't had the opportunity to really examine the process for creating drivers
from some raw files from the Intel site.

Thanks for the information on the script for importing the tags. It may well
prove useful.

I take it my last name doesn't ring any bells.... Anyone with the same last
name is related to me.

FSpot or Picasa are my choices for Photo Managment.

Vid drivers... No idea.

I've got f-spot, of course, but I'm a little concerned about the "import"
process it says it needs to do. Is the use of the word "import" an unfortunate
choice of word when they mean "catalogue" or does f-spot really import all the
pics (the actual image files) in to some kind of proprietary database?

This is a subject I've devoted a lot of time investigating. I am an avid
photographer with thousands of photos saved on my computer and on
various external devices. I came to linux from windows where I had found
the -perfect way of cataloguing and working on my photos. I am still
looking into a suitable solution with linux but have meanwhile come up
with this:

As with windows I think one needs two seperate programs. One for
cataloging and one for working. I think that in windows ACDsee does both
but I never really used it. In Linux for work I suggest using Gimp which
is as good as photoshop (and free :-) ).
There are other options, less elaborate, of course. My desktop is KDE so
I know their programs better than gnome ones, but there are equivalent
ones in gnome. For work one can also use Digikam (fspot in gnome). For
me the big problem was cataloging. Digikam an most other programs in
Linux that I looked at required the importing of all photos to a central
folder. Because of the fact that I have photos all over my computer (and
off the computer) that system doesn't suit me.
My solution for cataloging isn't final. I am looking into two programs
that seem to answer my specific needs, The one program is Kphotoalbum. I
am still trying to understand how to really use the program. I recently
discovered a program called imgseek which can be installed with "apt-get
install imgseek". This program seems to be the real answer I'm looking
for. It searches all hard drives and leaves the folders in place and
builds a catalog like windows with folders, subfolders and photos in a
database format. It doesn't import photos to one folder but builds
thumbnails. As I said this is still under investigation.

once gimp gets 24 bit colour depth it will be viable for serious photo
work. that is planned for version 3.0

I use the kde apps on a gnome desktop... linux is wonderful that way

The over-all impression I'm getting is that there hasn't been very much
development work done in this area by avid photographers. I think the whole
cataloguing issue goes back to the way *nix systems treat drives.

ACDsee does have some editing capabilities, ones that are sufficient for most of
my needs. I also have GIMP installed on both my windows and Ubuntu boxes but I
can count on one hand the number of times I've needed to use GIMP to achieve the
results I want.

My solution for cataloging isn't final. I am looking into two programs
that seem to answer my specific needs, The one program is Kphotoalbum. I
am still trying to understand how to really use the program. I recently
discovered a program called imgseek which can be installed with "apt-get install
imgseek". This program seems to be the real answer I'm looking for. It searches
all hard drives and leaves the folders in place and builds a catalog like
windows with folders, subfolders and photos in a database format. It doesn't
import photos to one folder but builds thumbnails. As I said this is still under
investigation. I hope this adds to the discussion.

I'm now going to try GQView and will rport back.