3 ms·

Gimp to Discuss Changing Name

16 points by todsacerdoti 2y ago

floundy 2y 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.
- Disposal8433 2y 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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repentance
  - dragonwriter 2y ago
    > the pope is dead While a very large number of past Popes are dead, the Pope (Leo XIV) is alive.
- ninjamuffin99 2y 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 2y ago
  Your language and tone make it obvious you do care, so which are you?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- spankalee 2y ago
  It's a dumb name.
  - tommica 2y ago
    Yes, but it's also known by that name. It's a non-issue
    - fknorangesite 2y ago
      Outside of places like HN, it is barely known at all, and the name is a big reason for that.
    - scragz 2y ago
      apparently it's an issue issue if they're changing it
  - floundy 2y ago
    Golly gee, I can't open GIMP, the cool kids are watching...
- pjmlp 2y ago
  Yes, as if the name was the reason it never took over Photoshop.
- jakelazaroff 2y 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!
xeonmc 2y ago
I propose “Zed”
- treetalker 2y ago
  Zed's dead, xeonmc. Zed's dead.
efilife 2y 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 2y 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 2y ago
  just because this person is being hyperbolic doesn't mean it's a bad idea to consider changing the name.
legitster 2y ago
Is "gimp" really a slur? I've never really heard it in an offensive context before.
- al_borland 2y 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 2y ago
    That explains the masochistic UX design.
- mixmastamyk 2y 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 2y 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.
- gapan 2y 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 2y ago
  The word "gimp" existed long before that film was made.
  - fknorangesite 2y ago
    Of course; no one said otherwise. The Pulp Fiction context is a [imo, poor] defense of the name from the original team - saying that's where they picked it from, as opposed to the ableist slur. It was the mid-90s at the time, after all, and there was an Uma Thurman Pulp Fiction poster in half the dorm rooms in the damned country at the time. So, now we're back to the comment you're responding to: even if it is genuinely just about Pulp Fiction, is that any better?
- AdmiralAsshat 2y 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": https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/ssb-tourney/images/f/fb/Voldo_CG_Art.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130717185552 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.
samtheDamned 2y ago
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.
wvbdmp 2y ago
GIMP = Green Is My Pepper. Problem solved. https://imgur.com/gimp-green-is-pepper-eeq6han https://imgur.com/gimp-green-is-pepper-eeq6han
adfm 2y ago
GNU Imp keeps the name, promotes GNU, and delivers improved brand recognition. The people that want to keep calling it Gimp can continue to do so, but it’s up to them to navigate the negative connotations. Use GNU Imp to edit sprites. Works for me.
chrsw 2y ago
In 1995 my mind associated "gimp" with a slur or something sexually explicit. In 2025 my mind associates "gimp" with imaging software and their cartoon logo.
kasabali 2y ago
Name is least of GIMP's problems.

16 points by todsacerdoti 2y 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.

Disposal8433 2y 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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repentance
- dragonwriter 2y ago
  > the pope is dead While a very large number of past Popes are dead, the Pope (Leo XIV) is alive.
ninjamuffin99 2y 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 2y ago
Your language and tone make it obvious you do care, so which are you?
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
spankalee 2y ago
It's a dumb name.
- tommica 2y ago
  Yes, but it's also known by that name. It's a non-issue
  - fknorangesite 2y ago
    Outside of places like HN, it is barely known at all, and the name is a big reason for that.
  - scragz 2y ago
    apparently it's an issue issue if they're changing it
- floundy 2y ago
  Golly gee, I can't open GIMP, the cool kids are watching...
pjmlp 2y ago
Yes, as if the name was the reason it never took over Photoshop.
jakelazaroff 2y 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!

xeonmc 2y ago

I propose “Zed”

treetalker 2y ago
Zed's dead, xeonmc. Zed's dead.

efilife 2y 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 2y 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 2y ago
just because this person is being hyperbolic doesn't mean it's a bad idea to consider changing the name.

legitster 2y ago

Is "gimp" really a slur? I've never really heard it in an offensive context before.

al_borland 2y 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 2y ago
  That explains the masochistic UX design.
mixmastamyk 2y 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 2y 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.

gapan 2y 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 2y ago
The word "gimp" existed long before that film was made.
- fknorangesite 2y ago
  Of course; no one said otherwise. The Pulp Fiction context is a [imo, poor] defense of the name from the original team - saying that's where they picked it from, as opposed to the ableist slur. It was the mid-90s at the time, after all, and there was an Uma Thurman Pulp Fiction poster in half the dorm rooms in the damned country at the time. So, now we're back to the comment you're responding to: even if it is genuinely just about Pulp Fiction, is that any better?
AdmiralAsshat 2y 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": https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/ssb-tourney/images/f/fb/Voldo_CG_Art.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130717185552 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.

samtheDamned 2y ago

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.

wvbdmp 2y ago

GIMP = Green Is My Pepper. Problem solved. https://imgur.com/gimp-green-is-pepper-eeq6han https://imgur.com/gimp-green-is-pepper-eeq6han

adfm 2y ago

GNU Imp keeps the name, promotes GNU, and delivers improved brand recognition. The people that want to keep calling it Gimp can continue to do so, but it’s up to them to navigate the negative connotations. Use GNU Imp to edit sprites. Works for me.

chrsw 2y ago

In 1995 my mind associated "gimp" with a slur or something sexually explicit. In 2025 my mind associates "gimp" with imaging software and their cartoon logo.

kasabali 2y ago

Name is least of GIMP's problems.