Like many Linux users, I started by using whatever photo management program was included in the Linux distribution I was using. Initially this was F-Spot on Ubuntu, but then they changed to Shotwell, so I tried that for a while. Then a couple of things happened, Ubuntu changed to the Unity desktop, which immediately ended my interest in using that distribution, and Gnome 3 was released, which reduced my interest in any of the other Gnome-based distributions, so that led me back to KDE, where I started using digiKam. That was the end of the journey for me: I have been a very satisfied digiKam user for several years now.