#109 The GIMP plugin should run from the user plugins folder

[SD Snatcher]

The current RECOIL plugin for the GIMP is required to be installed inside the GIMP.app plugins folder.

But this causes issues, because macOS doesn't like apps to be modified, and this triggers the system malware protection. The user ends up having to re-sign the whole app himself.

Then I tried to avoid this problem by installing the file-recoil plugin inside the user plugins folder (~/Library/Application Support/GIMP/2.10/plug-ins), but then it crashes looking for libraries in incorrect places:

dyld[52877]: Library not loaded: @rpath/libgimp-2.0.0.dylib
  Referenced from: <3CCA38D2-8B7E-383A-88FB-E094041401B9> /Users/myUserOmmited/Library/Application Support/GIMP/2.10/plug-ins/file-recoil
  Reason: tried: '/Users/myUserOmmited/Library/Application Support/libgimp-2.0.0.dylib' (no such file), '/Users/myUserOmmited/Library/Application Support/libgimp-2.0.0.dylib' (no such file), '/usr/lib/libgimp-2.0.0.dylib' (no such file, not in dyld cache)

[SD Snatcher]

Also, it would be nice to add the following command to the install steps of all the RECOIL plugins for macOS, otherwise macOS blocks them from being executed.

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine <path to file or folder>

[Piotr Fusik]

Some background news:

Recently GIMP 3 appeared, with a new, incompatible plugin system. I've already updated the code, so the upcoming RECOIL 7.0.0 will come with GIMP 3 plugins.

However, I have multiple problems with macOS builds:

• Our build machine at https://www.macstadium.com had a disk failure and it no longer boots. I'm setting up my local Mac to do the builds.
• I bought an Apple Developer subscription, but notarization with it fails with a mystery error code. I opened a support ticket at Apple months ago and they are basically ignoring me. :(
• It looks like I need to build GIMP 3 so that I can link my plugin with it. Unfortunately, the build fails for me because of some problem with libgcc14.

I have the latest macOS on my M1 Mac and last time I checked, the RECOIL plugin worked. I'm not aware of different security levels of binaries depending on their location. The GIMP plugin contains the embedded paths to the libraries, so yes, it's not going to work if you move it.

Summary:

• First I need to overcome my problems with building the GIMP 3 plugin. If I cannot get past Apple support, I will have to skip the macOS builds for this release.
• Then I'll appreciate your beta testing, to avoid the "works on my machine" trap. What version of macOS do you have? Apple silicon or Intel?

[SD Snatcher]

Nice to hear that GIMP3 will be supported!

And shame on Apple for treating developers this way.

Then I'll appreciate your beta testing, to avoid the "works on my machine" trap. What version of macOS do you have? Apple silicon or Intel?

I'll be glad to help you with the tests. My machine has macOS 13.7.6 running on Intel.

[Piotr Fusik]

I managed to compile for both Apple Silicon and Intel.

Now please test on Intel as I only have an M1. It's a GIMP 3.0.4 plugin.
https://recoil.sourceforge.net/recoil-6.5.0-ALPHA2-macos.dmg
I don't think I can include a link to home folder in a DMG file. This means you need to open it yourself.
Finder hides the Library folder by default. Either View / Show View Options / Show Library Folder
or Go / Go to folder / /Users/YOU/Library/Application Support/GIMP/3.0/plug-ins
Now drag the file-recoil folder from the RECOIL DMG to the empty plug-ins folder and restart GIMP.
Remember you need to check "Show All Files" in GIMP open dialog.

If that doesn't work for some reason, try running the plugin from the terminal (it is an executable file):
~/Library/Application\ Support/GIMP/3.0/plug-ins/file-recoil/file-recoil

[Matt Sephton]

Sadly 6.5.0-ALPHA2 (still shows version 6.4.5 in Get Info) doesn't work for me on macOS 14.7.8, M1 MBP. No thumbnails or QuickLook space previews.

[Piotr Fusik]

Thanks for info!
Please don't spend too much time debugging this. I expect that once we get the appex, it will be recommended for all the OSes that support it.

Can you test GIMP 3?

still shows version 6.4.5 in Get Info

This part is expected. I haven't bumped the version numbers for the alpha, as I don't even know if it will be 6.5.0 or 7.0.0.

[Matt Sephton]

GIMP plugin works fine. I downloaded GIMP, ran it once so it created the support folder, then copied the file-recoil folder into there, making sure to un-gatekeeper the executble (my method is to right-click-open a couple of times until you see it run in a terminal window).

[Piotr Fusik]

Did you test on Intel?

[Matt Sephton]

No, sorry, I only hve Apple silicon M1