Written by michaeljt the 29 Nov 09 at 09:53.
Related project: Live CD.
Status: Won't implement
Rationale
Since gimp is being removed from the default installation for Ubuntu 10.04, the default imaging application chosen is likely to be F-Spot. I think that Digikam should also be considered for that role. Apart from the fact that Digikam is a high quality piece of software, this would remove one of the main reasons for including Mono, which is a rather large (and rather unpopular!) dependency, in the default installation.
It would also be a good step towards bringing Ubuntu and Kubuntu closer together, which would be good for many reasons, including reducing maintenance effort on the part of Canonical (resulting in improved quality for users) and for helping with the current KDE goal of ensuring that KDE software will run well in non-KDE environments, and it would be another step towards closing the historical rift between KDE and Gnome, which only burdens users by discouraging the full range of software choice available.
The main problem I see is that apt-get install digikam still pulls in a large number of dependencies (over 200Mb). I think though that some careful clean-up could reduce this substantially.
If space is the true concern than Gimp still trumps either digikam or f-spot. One solid useful tool trumps any number of tools trying badly to be dumbed down. When it comes to "photo managers", F-spot is dead last behind digikam and Picasa.
If space is really the issue then the best tool should be what gets installed by default.
I tend to use KDE over Gnome, and as such have found myself using Digikam for photo management. It is incredibly powerful and easy to use and improve as a user. Unfortunately, I do not have any F-Spot to compare with.