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Comment by DonHopkins | Hacker News Reader

Great to hear! Now if only it was easier to be taken seriously when evangelizing a piece of software named "GIMP"...

This is exactly why it has been forked under a less-passive-aggressive name, Glimpse[0]. If GIMP implements these, Glimpse eventualy will get them, too.

[0] https://glimpse-editor.github.io/

That's cool, but they could really stand to spend some more time on the introductory screenshot to give unfamiliar users a better idea of just what Glimpse is and why they might want to download it. There just seems to be the one with the UI zoomed out so far as to be indistinguishable. It's such a wasted opportunity to showcase additional features, too, like adding a floating salad bowl to show that they were also capable of forking the "Layers" functionality.

I don't think passive aggressive is the right description for the name... It's just plain bad. Who wants to think of related sexual fetishists when performing image manipulation? Glimpse is much better. Is there any chance the name will get officially changed?

Nobody thinks of sexual fetishism when editing something with GIMP.

Nobody thinks of the word “chrome” when using Chrome, or of a literal window when using Windows, or of a literal docker ship when using Docker.

Nope, but when someone asks me IRL, at work say, "you're into FOSS what are your most used graphics tools" then I'm not mentioning The GIMP (which I've used for, what, 15 years).

Glimpse is a good name, though I never got why they couldn't just call it GNU Imp - Wilber might as well be an Imp.

However, nearly every person that I've ever introduced this piece of software to does think of sexual fetishism and most make a joke about it.

Sure, if they start to use it regularly the association will fade, but first impressions are important.

I don't think the name is that bad. Just as bad are names like Google, git, lisp, etc.

I know of two meanings for the word gimp:

1. offensive slang for a disabled person. 2. a person who dresses up in leather for sexual purposes.

Not a great name for a piece of software. Apparently there's a third older meaning, some kind of braided string. I'd never heard of that one before I looked it up just now though.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/gimp

FWIW "lisp" also refers to a disability

I don't think of a leather bound guy being pulled out of a trunk when people say those names.

That is true but to be fair I don't think of that when I use GIMP, either.

Hah, maybe there's some culture I'm lacking, but I don't think of that when I hear the word gimp, either.

I do think of something like a gimp leg though. I.e. a damaged leg which can't support you properly.

It's a reference from the movie Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction is only one of the greatest films of all time. So anybody who hasn't heard of that particular meaning of the term has been living locked up in a small dark room under the basement staircase for the past 26 years.

https://www.thegreatestfilms.com/Film/1994/Pulp-Fiction

Or just younger than 35 or so! It’s been a movie a young person has to learn about and deliberately seek out for awhile now. For many, Samuel L Jackson may be the only recognizable actor due to his Marvel franchise gig.

It's a terrible name for the software, it's actually embarrassing to mention it to someone not familiar with it. You feel obliged to explain/apologise for the name. If the software was flawless it might not matter so much but that on top of a reputation for being hard to use has probably done it a lot of damage.

It's interesting to compare this situation of affairs against git and GitHub which have become normalized to the point where "master" is consciously perceived as more offensive and tone-deaf than "git" itself.

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