Well, that's the thing: They have to try and unfortunately, they aren't.
That's not to poo-poo their efforts: They aren't a 500+ employee development house, obviously. But in terms of workflow, features, UI, etc.: GIMP falls far short in comparison to Photoshop.
Krita might do it, if they go the Photoshop route, which they aren't (and for good reason).
I'm not saying the GIMP is wonderful, I'm saying that if the GIMP developers actually tried, it might as well become more popular than Photoshop.
Well, that's the thing: They have to try and unfortunately, they aren't.
That's not to poo-poo their efforts: They aren't a 500+ employee development house, obviously. But in terms of workflow, features, UI, etc.: GIMP falls far short in comparison to Photoshop.
Krita might do it, if they go the Photoshop route, which they aren't (and for good reason).