Google has released Picasa for Linux. Picasa is a free photo management and light editing tool comparable to iPhoto or Digikam. Previously it was only supported on Windows.

The release of Picasa for Linux is significant for a number reasons. First, the lack of Picasa for Linux had been a reason to hold back on a Linux switch. Multiple people had cited cited the ease of use and the ability to make non-destructive edits. With that feature, Picasa allowed you recover the original version of a photo if you were unhappy with your changes for any reason.

Picasa for Linux is also significant because it is not really Picasa for Linux. It is actually the same "PICASA.EXE" that is shipped for Windows, but a compatibility layer is also included. From my initial review, this uncommon solution seemed to work perfectly. The technique lowers Google's cost to deliver and maintain Picasa for Linux. If this experiment is successful, we can expect to see more companies offering official Linux version of formerly Windows-only software.

Finally, this release is significant because Google has been supporting open source has part of their development process. The compatibility layer I mentioned is WINE, an open source Windows emulation project. Google paid for engineers to improve this software for their own use and returned their changes to open source community.

As a result, other Windows software will run better on Linux, not just Google's.

Personally, I prefer open source software and find Digikam good enough to use and recommend for photo management. However, I recognize that Picasa has something unique to offer and am happy to this choice is officially available and supported for Linux.