What's this about?
Paint.NET, the Windows image editor that has been a fixture since 2004, now runs on Linux in its 5.2 alpha.
Why is this a hard port?
Because Paint.NET is deeply Windows-native — built on .NET with Windows Forms and later WPF, using Direct2D for rendering and a lot of Win32 for the parts that had to be fast. None of that exists on Linux. Modern .NET is cross-platform, which makes the language runtime portable, but the UI and graphics layers are the actual application. Getting there means either replacing them or finding a compatibility path, and neither is a weekend's work.
Why is it worth noticing?
HN 175 points, 138 comments
- It is one of the last widely-loved Windows-only utilities, so the port removes a real reason people stay.
- .NET's cross-platform story has been credible for years and this is a good demonstration of how far it now reaches.
- Non-AI, and one of the day's better-received threads.