You’re misunderstanding what I was saying. You gave the example of VLC being a superior open source video player, compared to other video players. I pointed out that VLC has been in development for a lot longer, so has had a lot of time to become as loved as it is. It wasn’t embraced in the earlier years of its existence the same way it is today.

Once Darktable has been in development for longer, then it can be compared the same way, not to VLC, but to other photo management software.

Also, oranges are better than apples. Another unfair comparison.

The UI features and functionality of a video player is a lot simpler than something like Darktable or Lightroom.

Calling it a guide is misleading. It’s labeled as a list of alternatives and that’s what it is. Audio books are an alternative to reading, but it’s definitely not the same experience.

That’s not really a fair comparison. VLC development started in 1996. Darktable was first released in 2009. Give Darktable another 13 years of development and then you can make that comparison.