It wouldn't change the fact that I don't use it (I almost never work with images) but it would definitely change the fact that I don't recommend it to anyone outside of the FOSS community.
I am not from a region that uses the name as a slur, but even the reference to an unsavory scene in Pulp Fiction and the overall negative connotation make it awkward at best and with the fact that it is a slur I run the risk of being downright offensive for no good reason. I just recommend Krita and explain that it's not an exact photoshop place in and that there are other options out there as well.
Is "gimp" really a slur? I've never really heard it in an offensive context before.
al_borland · 4h ago
Maybe 50+ years ago. I never hear people actually use it anymore.
They also mention it’s a Pulp Fiction reference, which used it in the context of bdsm, not as an abilist thing.
xeonmc · 3h ago
That explains the masochistic UX design.
mixmastamyk · 1h ago
It is in Britain apparently. Doesn’t feel like a significant reason to change the name to me. No one I’ve ever mentioned it to in person has remarked on the name.
Lots of words are mildly offensive in at least one language.
spankalee · 3h ago
Great. It's just a terrible name for a project that presumably hopes a broad range of people will use.
Even if you buy that the creators didn't know it was an ugly term for disabled people (but why did they think the Gimp character was called that in Pulp Fiction?), naming your potentially mainstream software after a imprisoned, tortured, and eventually murdered sex slave maybe isn't the best idea either?
If you want your project to remain niche and repel some users, then I guess it's a fine choice, however.
AdmiralAsshat · 2h ago
> (but why did they think the Gimp character was called that in Pulp Fiction?
Pleading ignorance here... When I saw Pulp Fiction as a teenager, and they refer to the BDSM guy as "the gimp", I thought that's what they called that outfit. I feel like it was a not-uncommon understanding in the US (even if an erroneous one)... All my friends and I at school referred the the character Voldo from Soul Calibur as "that creepy guy in the gimp suit":
We didn't mean it in the sense that he was crippled (he's actually quite agile), we meant it in the sense that he was wearing tight leather with bindings and zippers.
soupbowl · 2h ago
I never liked the name either, you are pretty dramatic about it though. Gimp is niche and the name is not the reason for it being so.
gapan · 3h ago
> naming your potentially mainstream software after a imprisoned, tortured, and eventually murdered sex slave maybe isn't the best idea either?
Honest question: Why?
ravenstine · 2h ago
The word "gimp" existed long before that film was made.
xeonmc · 4h ago
I propose “Zed”
treetalker · 4h ago
Zed's dead, xeonmc. Zed's dead.
floundy · 5h ago
Hilarious and pathetic. I hope GIMP realizes that the people pressuring them to change the name are a bunch of terminally online keyboard warriors with zero accomplishments in life, and normal people who use and support their product do not care.
pjmlp · 2h ago
Yes, as if the name was the reason it never took over Photoshop.
jakelazaroff · 1h ago
As opposed to the people who heard the name might change and started fuming about “keyboard warriors” — those people are all well-adjusted, accomplished and hot!
spankalee · 3h ago
It's a dumb name.
tommica · 3h ago
Yes, but it's also known by that name. It's a non-issue
scragz · 3h ago
apparently it's an issue issue if they're changing it
fknorangesite · 3h ago
Outside of places like HN, it is barely known at all, and the name is a big reason for that.
floundy · 3h ago
Golly gee, I can't open GIMP, the cool kids are watching...
Disposal8433 · 4h ago
Well, since they behave like a religion and the pope is dead, it's obvious that someone would remind them of their wrongdoings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repentance
dragonwriter · 3h ago
> the pope is dead
While a very large number of past Popes are dead, the Pope (Leo XIV) is alive.
ninjamuffin99 · 4h ago
maybe true, but also in my self proclaimed non-keyboard warrior opinion, I think GIMP is a silly name. More so because I am juvenile.
Photoshop is kinda a cool dope name, and unfortunately GIMP is not.
krapp · 4h ago
Your language and tone make it obvious you do care, so which are you?
efilife · 4h ago
> @GIMP i'd love to be happy about software, but thanks to the name your posts are a jumpscare. it could have just been IMP, but nooo, yous just had to provoke to feel clever
> @GIMP it kills me to get a reply from or mention this account with the name i am not ok rn
It's hard to take someone serious when they are so scared of some particular word. This is not how a normal person acts. Outliers shouldn't have that much impact on a name that was established 30 years ago
al_borland · 4h ago
It feels very performative. Looking at her profile, acting like this is her identity. These people should be ignored. In a few days she’ll move on to something else and no one will remember this.
terminatornet · 40m ago
just because this person is being hyperbolic doesn't mean it's a bad idea to consider changing the name.
I am not from a region that uses the name as a slur, but even the reference to an unsavory scene in Pulp Fiction and the overall negative connotation make it awkward at best and with the fact that it is a slur I run the risk of being downright offensive for no good reason. I just recommend Krita and explain that it's not an exact photoshop place in and that there are other options out there as well.
Problem solved.
https://imgur.com/gimp-green-is-pepper-eeq6han
They also mention it’s a Pulp Fiction reference, which used it in the context of bdsm, not as an abilist thing.
Lots of words are mildly offensive in at least one language.
Even if you buy that the creators didn't know it was an ugly term for disabled people (but why did they think the Gimp character was called that in Pulp Fiction?), naming your potentially mainstream software after a imprisoned, tortured, and eventually murdered sex slave maybe isn't the best idea either?
If you want your project to remain niche and repel some users, then I guess it's a fine choice, however.
Pleading ignorance here... When I saw Pulp Fiction as a teenager, and they refer to the BDSM guy as "the gimp", I thought that's what they called that outfit. I feel like it was a not-uncommon understanding in the US (even if an erroneous one)... All my friends and I at school referred the the character Voldo from Soul Calibur as "that creepy guy in the gimp suit":
https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/ssb-tourney/images/f/fb...
We didn't mean it in the sense that he was crippled (he's actually quite agile), we meant it in the sense that he was wearing tight leather with bindings and zippers.
Honest question: Why?
While a very large number of past Popes are dead, the Pope (Leo XIV) is alive.
> @GIMP it kills me to get a reply from or mention this account with the name i am not ok rn
It's hard to take someone serious when they are so scared of some particular word. This is not how a normal person acts. Outliers shouldn't have that much impact on a name that was established 30 years ago