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(Emphasis in original. --Ed.)
GIMP is a longstanding project, first announced in November 1995. The name was originally an acronym for General Image Manipulation Program but this was changed to GNU Image Manipulation Program.
The new fork springs from a discussion on Gitlab, where the source code is hosted. The discussion has been hidden but is available on web archives here. A topic titled "Consider renaming GIMP to a less offensive name," opened by developer Christopher Davis, stated:
I'd like to propose renaming GIMP, due to the baggage behind the name. The most modern and often used version of the word "gimp" is an ableist insult. This is also the colloquial usage of the word. In addition to the pain of the definition, there's also the marketability issue. Acronyms are difficult to remember, and they end up pronounced instead of read as their parts. "GIMP" does not give a hint towards the function of the app, and it's hard to market something that's either used as an insult or a sex reference.
[...] The subject of the suitability of the name is not new, and is enshrined in the official FAQ:
"I don't like the name GIMP. Will you change it?"
With all due respect, no. We've been using the name GIMP for more than 20 years and it's widely known ... on top of that, we feel that in the long run, sterilization of language will do more harm than good. ... Finally, if you still have strong feelings about the name "GIMP", you should feel free to promote the use of the long form GNU Image Manipulation Program or maintain your own releases of the software under a different name.
The Glimpse project is therefore entirely within the spirit of open source. "We believe free software should be accessible to everyone, and in this case a re-brand is both a desirable and very straightforward fix that could attract a whole new generation of users and contributors," says the About page.
Is now the time to accept that, to get GIMP into the mainstream, it needs a rename?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @12:58AM (12 children)
I thought we lived in a less ... cloistered ... world than this. Is "GIMP" really that problematic of a word? In 2019? Come on.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday August 31 2019, @01:13AM (7 children)
First it was a sexual/BDSM term, now it's ableism. GIMP can't catch a break.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @01:54AM (1 child)
I don't even know what "ableism" is...
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Saturday August 31 2019, @11:46AM
Ableism [wikipedia.org] is discrimination against people with disabilities.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @02:14AM (2 children)
To show how old the usage is, the term was first used as a euphemism for handicapped people in the early 1920s. It then fell off the euphemism treadmill because it became offensive, it then reached the point where most people forgot about it and don't use it in discussion. The very fact that people keep dredging it up and saying it is offensive is what is keeping it offensive at this point because of the fact no one uses it anymore.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @04:48AM (1 child)
Plus, words can have several different meanings. The people saying it's inherently offensive are ignoring intent and context, making them irrational idiots.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @11:37AM
These pearl clutching cretins should work in mechanical engineering where they should be so lucky as to grab my nuts, polish my shaft or grease my nipples.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @03:40PM (1 child)
Was it a sex term before Pulp Fiction though? Or did Tarantino turn it into one?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday August 31 2019, @04:54PM
GIMP came out in 1996, about a year and a half after Pulp Fiction, so I would judge it by that time period rather than whatever people thought "gimp" meant in the 1930s.
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(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @01:26AM (1 child)
For SJWs, any cause that elevates their sense of importance is good enough to turn into an "issue".
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @04:47PM
Correct. It is sort of like stolen valor. They want to be seen as people who fight injustice, but the people who they claim to champion want nothing to do with them. It is not about actual victims or actual harm, just perceived victimhood, which seems to be a currency for attracting attention on social media.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by PiMuNu on Saturday August 31 2019, @05:19AM (1 child)
> Is "GIMP" really that problematic of a word?
Yes. Of course it is. It makes the product sound like it was written by 14 year old boys snickering in a corner.
But more significant:
> "GIMP" does not give a hint towards the function of the app
You can get away with that if you have significant market share, but GIMP does not. It is a niche product.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @10:32AM
People only care about things they paid $$$ for. The more it cost them, the more they care; it gives them bragging rights that they had money to burn, and any acknowledging that the purchase has flaws equals to admitting themselves suckers who got swindled out of that much money.