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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: 4, Touché) by janrinok on Saturday August 31 2019, @07:49AM (4 children)
It would be fine with me providing that you weren't doing it to be offensive.
Wg Cdr Guy Gibson led 617 Sqn RAF on operation Chastise - the name given to the attack on the German dams in the Ruhr. He had a black labrador as a pet. It was called Nigger. In the film Dambusters it was changed in the US to Digger - the dog was never called Digger and, last time I looked, the grave/memorial still bore the true name of the dog. The word itself is entirely harmless, it is people who have turned it into a slur and word that must not be used ever. Calling GIMP by a new name will not change anything - it will still be GIMP to those who have used it for many years.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @11:20AM (3 children)
If there is one book current progressives should read it's Conrad's "The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'" - unfortunately they won't!
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday August 31 2019, @02:28PM (2 children)
Well, you give no compelling reason to even go so far as to look it up. WHY should they read it? What will they gain from it? You say they should read it, and then dismiss the idea without so much as a word on why you feel so.
You shoot your recommendation in the foot by doing so.
So I looked up the wiki on it and "The novel can be seen as an allegory about isolation and solidarity." The story of a black man dying of TB on a tall ship in the late 19th century. Looks like it might be an interesting read, although I don't see why 'progressives' specifically should read it. The U.S. version was published under the title "he Children of the Sea: A Tale of the Forecastle."
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday August 31 2019, @02:32PM
Damn the intermittent T key on my gazillion year old KB.
"The Children of the Sea: A Tale of the Forecastle."
Even Cherry keys die eventually.....
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31 2019, @03:50PM
I'd assume many here are familiar with the work or at least it's association with Alien where "Narcissus" was adopted as the name of the landing craft.
Conrad was a crewman on the real Narcissus and the novella's Jimmy Wait character was based on a real-life black seamate who died on the voyage. Descriptive prose such as "a face pathetic and brutal: the tragic, the mysterious, the repulsive mask of a nigger's soul" was less soaked in racial animus than a modern reader may presume. Wait is the center of the story, the reflecting pool through which other crew members of the Narcissus come to see themselves.
Honestly... probably nothing than supplying their own narcissism by viewing the novella entirely through a racial lens.
Progressive recommendation aside, Conrad's Heart of Darkness and this book are both worthwhile reads.