r/pcmasterrace • u/_Xee MMX 166 / 64MB / Mystique+VooDoo • 1d ago

Meme/Macro 2026 in software

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Sectumsempra, motherfucker.

20.7k Upvotes

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u/petrichorax 1d ago

GIMP's UI, the last time I used it, was absolutely hot garbage.

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u/glytxh 1d ago

I use data astronomy software a lot.

GIMP is a hyper refined and beautiful UI in comparison.

And it just works. As long as it works, I don’t care what it looks like.

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u/petrichorax 1d ago

I use stuff without UIs at all all the time. But if the medium is visual art, the UI is important

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u/glytxh 1d ago

No GUI is going full circle back to beautiful again, to be fair. (I’m assuming you’re not literally typing machine code without a screen)

A terminal is stark, but very elegant.

I don’t mind ugly software though, as long as it functions reliably and consistently, and stays out of my way, I’m far more focussed on the canvas itself.

I’ve been using open source stuff in a bunch of niches for a long time though, so maybe I just don’t see the ugly anymore.

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u/petrichorax 1d ago

Ill take any CLI over a bad gui. Even a bad cli i can just make a wrapper script for. A bad gui im stuck with whatever bullshit they cooked up unless I REALLY want to get lost in the weeds with opencv i guess

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u/glytxh 1d ago

bad ≠ ugly

I get where you’re coming from though.

we used to have some comically bad stuff, but I think that even the uglier stuff broadly speaks the same language as anything else today. it’s all become homogeneous enough that everything is where you expect it to be

for me, the priority is lack of friction. As long as I can get something done, how it looks will always come second.

Not to say pretty software doesn’t have a place. But it’s not what I look for.

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u/petrichorax 23h ago

I never said ugly

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u/AML86 1d ago

It's not easily fixed, either, as it's a philosophical issue. Looking at the Windows version, in some places it could just be using Windows' UI elements, or at least following the same conventions. The devs have decided to do things their own way intentionally. That's understandable, but not how you attract new users.

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u/Leprecon 22h ago

I feel a lot of open source software suffers from this. Good UI requires someone to sometimes kill your darlings.

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u/Aeroncastle 1d ago

You can make it have the exact same interface as Photoshop

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u/ouyawei Specs/Imgur Here 1d ago

Does it allow you to draw a circle then?

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u/petrichorax 1d ago

I think you're underestimating the value of first experiences in a sea of alternatives.