Hello GIMP,

I really like the program, but...it has a VERY annoying
user interface.

I downloaded a fairly large .IMG file from the Georgia
GIS Clearinghouse (search for it on the web). The file
was a 1:500,000 USGS basemap for Georgia.

The image I downloaded was a 1:500,000 basemap for Georgia.
(probably any USGS 1:500,000 from any state will do.)

Next, I used the img2tif.exe program from Intergraph to
convert the image from ERDAS .img to a tiff image.

GIMP will not read the ERDAS .img, thus the conversion
from .img to .tif.

The output from img2tif is about 400Mb.

Now, for the annoying GIMP user interface.

It has taken hours to use GIMP to process this image.
The

   "unable to seek to tile location on disk: Invalid argument"

   Message repeated x times.


This message is useless to a new user.  What does it mean?
What should I do?  The message goes on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and
on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
...THERE IS NO OUT.  THERE IS NO BYPASSING
THIS MESSAGE.  THE ONLY OUT IS TO HALT THE PROGRAM.

I searched Google for this GIMP message.  It seems to
be a frequently asked question.

ALAS, there is no FAQ on the GIMP web page.

I finally got GIMP to convert the image to a .BMP image.
Other image programs (GlobalMapper, MS Paint, MS Fax view,
etc...) will load the .BMP image with some wait time.
But, GIMP continues to prompt with the 

   "unable to seek to tile location on disk: Invalid argument"

   Message repeated x times.

It has taken hours to edit an image that should only take
minutes.

Please give users a better description of
  
   "unable to seek to tile location on disk: Invalid argument"

and what to do about it.

Please make a FAQ that describes and remedies this annoying
GIMP user interface.

I would be interested in the solution to this FAQ.

Cheers,
Frank Davis
fmd@friendlycity.net