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> "They" are a handful of maintainers doing relatively thankless work. This is not a well-paid full-time job for them. If the name was changed to something wit
by CharlesW 2y ago
> "They" are a handful of maintainers doing relatively thankless work. This is not a well-paid full-time job for them.
If the name was changed to something with less of an ick factor, contributors would double. (For anyone who believes the acronym is coincidental, it's confirmed to be inspired by "The Gimp" from Pulp Fiction. https://web.archive.org/web/20201111191926/https://www.xach.com/gg/1997/1/profile/1/ https://web.archive.org/web/20201111191926/https://www.xach....)
- krapp 2y ago>If the name was changed to something with less of an ick factor, contributors would double. No they wouldn't. Most users of free and open source software don't contribute anything, regardless of the name or critical nature of the software they use, much less enough for developers to take a full time income for their work. And most users of GIMP couldn't care less about the name either way.
- squigz 2y agoThat's quite an assertion to make, probably without evidence?
- CharlesW 2y agoIt's purely anecdotal if that wasn't clear. In my many conversations with folks where GIMP has been mentioned, the same two issues always come up: (1) the anachronistic user experience, and (2) the anachronistic name. Most of the people who could help with (1) aren't interested in a project with (2) on their CV. A good exercise is to imagine seeing a Show HN for the project RETARD or CRIPPLE, and how proud you'd be sharing the details of your work on RETARD with a prospective employer.