From e33e1499553e59f34f2a1087e4b165385cd974d2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Sijawusz Pur Rahnama Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2018 16:00:48 +0200 Subject: Add README.md --- README.md | 134 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 134 insertions(+) create mode 100644 README.md (limited to 'README.md') diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..81cc4c4de --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,134 @@ +# libgphoto2 + +Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of gphoto! This is libgphoto2, the +successor of gphoto with lots of new features and additional camera +drivers. + +If you miss a feature, would like to report success or failure, or have any +questions, please don't hesitate to contact our mailing list. + + +## What is libgphoto2? + +libgphoto2 is a library that can be used by applications to access various +digital cameras. + +For more information on gphoto, see [gphoto project home page]. + +There, you can also get information on mailing lists, supported cameras, +and availability of gphoto2. Another source of information is [gphoto github project page]. + +where you can access our SVN server to fetch the source code of +gphoto2, gtkam and GnoCam (see below). + + +## What is libgphoto2 not? + +libgphoto2 itself is not a GUI application, opposed to gphoto. There are +GUI frontends for the gphoto2 library, however, such as gtkam for +example. + +libgphoto2 can only talk to cameras the language of those it understands. +That is, if you own a camera that speaks a language that isn't published +anywhere and nobody has been able to figure out the meaning of the sentences, +libgphoto2 cannot communicate with those cameras. + +Then, there are cameras supporting the so-called USB Mass Storage protocol. +This is a protocol that has been published and lets you access any storage +device, be it a camera or a disk connected via USB to your computer. As there +are already drivers for this protocol out there, you don't need an additional +library like libgphoto2. The list of camera that use USB Mass Storage is getting +longer everyday, so we won't publish it. + +For a more up to date list, you can consult [camera list with support status]. + +Your operating system will tell you about that because it is likely to recognize +the device as a SCSI disk that you can mount (for Linux 'dmesg' will tell you). +Again, those cameras *cannot* be accessed through libgphoto2. Some of them can +be switched to use a different communication protocol and might be in that case +useable with libgphoto2. + +Other camera support a protocol called PTP or USB Imaging Devices that has +been developed by Kodak and other. libgphoto2 does support PTP. Also working +will be cameras labeled as "PictBridge", which is a extension to PTP. + +Almost all cameras that are not mass storage support it these days, including +but not limited to all Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Sony, Panasonic, HP and more. + +PTP camera unknown to libgphoto2 will be detected as a generic PTP camera and +will work as-is without any changes. + +MTP (Microsoft Transfer Protocol) capable devices will also be accessible, +since MTP is based on PTP. + + +## Platforms + +libgphoto2 should compile and run on pretty much all Unix-like platforms. +libgphoto2 has _not_ (yet?) been ported to any operating system from MicroSoft. + + +## How to set up libgphoto2 + +For information on how to set up libgphoto2 and its frontends, see +The gphoto2 Manual. + +It is available at the following places: + + - At the gphoto website: [gphoto project home page] + - In the SVN module gphoto2-manual + +The gphoto2 Manual includes information about setting up USB +hotplugging. + +If you run into problems, you may also consult the FAQ (also included +in The gphoto2 Manual). + + +## Frontends + +gphoto2 is a command line frontend which is quite powerful, +especially in combination with scripts. See The gphoto2 Manual +for a short description. + +For the GUI lovers, there are for example digikam (KDE), gthumb (GNOME), +f-spot (GNOME / Mono) and more. We also have a GTK2 reference GUI +called gtkam, which is unmaintained, its only special features are +capture ability. +Additionally, there are plugins for other programs available like +kio_camera (KDE - Konqueror) and a fuse plugin, gphotofs. + + +## Reporting Bugs + +Every piece of software contains errors and flaws. So does +libgphoto2. When you encounter something that does not work, please do +the following: + +1. Find out whether this is a known problem. + +2. Reproduce the problem with debug output enabled and the language + set to English, so that the development team will understand the + messages. You can do this by running: + + env LC_ALL=C gtkam + + if you're using the gtkam frontend or running: + + env LC_ALL=C gphoto2 --debug-logfile=logfile.log --debug + + using the gphoto2 command line interface. + +3. Report the problem on the mailing list with the corresponding debug + output if it is small. If it is more than a few kilobytes, please + don't post the complete debug output on the list. + + +[gphoto project home page]: http://www.gphoto.org/ +[gphoto github project page]: https://github.com/gphoto +[camera list with support status]: http://www.teaser.fr/~hfiguiere/linux/digicam.html +[jphoto home page]: http://jphoto.sourceforge.net/ +[information about using USB mass storage]: http://www.linux-usb.org/USB-guide/x498.html +[gphoto development mailing list]: gphoto-devel@lists.sourceforge.net +[gphoto user mailing list]: gphoto-user@lists.sourceforge.net +[gphoto translation mailing list]: gphoto-translation@lists.sourceforge.net -- cgit v1.2.1