I will say this... checking in on the eternal Gimp flamewar a couple times a year does in fact serve a purpose.

every so often, I try out a potential alternative. so far nothing has stuck, but eventually, I'm going to find an app that does what I need it to do, and never have to use that cursed pile of hacks again.

OR, I'll check in, and somebody will say "they've implemented Adjustment Layers and also merged 3472 fixes starting with the text tool" and all will be right with the world!