Well, it looks like that has changed.  Now GIMP can use Photoshop filters.  This is an awesome development, because this brings GIMP up a notch in the photo editing platform battle.
Read more about it here

I’ve become a fairly large advocate for Open Source software ever since I spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on software for our office, only to find out we could have saved a ton of money by looking at free alternatives. Open Office vs Microsoft Office, GIMP vs Photoshop, Citadel Groupware and Mail Server VS Microsoft Exchange server, Ubuntu Linux server VS Windows 2003 server, etc. I figure we could have saved over $15,000 over the last year if we had used the open source alternatives instead of the expensive, over-priced big-name software.

I suppose the biggest item on my wish list is something to compete with AutoDesk’s Civil 3d (Autocad 2008) software. The software is severely bloated, buggy as hell, and over priced. When you post to their support forums about the wide range of bugs in their latest version of Civil 3d, their answer is almost always “Just spend $2,000 per employee and upgrade to the new version.” A new version comes out each year…