3 ms·

In the UK, it’s the sex one and would be used as a general “idiot” word but that seemed to have mostly faded away. It’s not a word I’ve seen used in that contex

In the UK, it’s the sex one and would be used as a general “idiot” word but that seemed to have mostly faded away. It’s not a word I’ve seen used in that context for many years. Not refuting anything here, just adding some context from over here. Whichever way you slice it, it’s always been an awful name.

SwellJoe 2mo ago
Yeah, it's always felt like an "edgy" name a teenager or quite young man would come up with. Which makes sense, the original GIMP authors were college-aged boys when they created it. I'd like it if they changed the name. We're (the Open Source community) not teenagers or annoying college kids anymore, by and large.
- ____mr____ 2mo ago
  The issue is that there are a bunch of people like this[0] who get incredibly upset and politicize any attempts to be "the adult in the room" and ask for renaming of unsavory names. The funniest of these is when Europeans talk about how they are being "forced" to comply with American cultural norms and you go through their account and they are so deeply steeped in American culture due to their participation in the anglophone internet spaces which are dominated by them. People in Europe will argue with you that you are importing woke culture if you suggest that they shouldn't say the N word, but are seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that the reason they find the word exciting to say and they say it in English is an import of American culture [0]. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49327771 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49327771
- maybewhenthesun 2mo ago
  I like it that the scruffy teenager hacker mentality is preserved in the name. It was also a bit of self deprecating humour at the time, because using Gimp instead of Photoshop did make you feel crippled a bit. I hope they never give in to the corporate-lawyer induced bland-washing .
  - SwellJoe 2mo ago
    I'm not a corporate lawyer. I'm just a Free Software user and developer and I think it's nicer when I can recommend something to someone without having to think about whether I might be saying something rude or hurtful. I assume there was a stink about the name because it bothers some disabled folks. It's not my place to tell them not to be bothered, I'd rather just not do the shitty thing that bothers them. It seems cringey and childish to insist on doing a thing that makes a bunch of people feel unwelcome based on something about themselves they can't change. And, for what? So you can feel like a scruffy teenaged hacker? I like my Free Software community to welcome people of all sorts.
    - TeriyakiBomb 2mo ago
      Having a "stink" is right. Even without much thought, it's off-putting, does not sound professional and really icky. When you think a bit harder, it's just kinda awful. I do actually suspect the name does have some measurable impact on adoption. Most people don't want to say "I gave up photoshop, I use gimp." outside of hardcore linux circles and since then, it has gone from the only open source gig in town to just one of many alternatives.
    - maybewhenthesun 2mo ago
      Anecdote time, back when gimp was still version 0.8 or somesuch , my wheelchair-bound college professor more or less forced gimp on us students because (his words) " You can tell by the name it's software for people like me." He was joking of course, he was just a huge open source proponent. But still, I have the feeling there are way more people thinking people will feel unwelcome than actual people feeling unwelcome. Though people's sensibilities do seem to shift a bit and maybe I'm just becoming an old fart.
roryirvine 2mo ago
Really? In Northern Ireland in the 80s/90s it was always used in the same way as spaz / flid etc - ie. an ableist slur. Kids would typically scream it when someone did something clumsy or uncoordinated. Lovely, eh? I don't think I've actually heard the sex thing being used anywhere in the UK, except perhaps when discussing Pulp Fiction. Even in kink contexts!
- SwellJoe 2mo ago
  A lot of kink participants are sensitive to oppressive language and try not to use it (outside of a consensual scene that includes it, perhaps). Consent culture is necessarily a culture that doesn't use slurs in daily public life, and at least some who participate in kink are particularly careful about consent.
- TeriyakiBomb 2mo ago
  Odd! Yeah nah, wasn’t really a thing in England.

SwellJoe 2mo ago

Yeah, it's always felt like an "edgy" name a teenager or quite young man would come up with. Which makes sense, the original GIMP authors were college-aged boys when they created it. I'd like it if they changed the name. We're (the Open Source community) not teenagers or annoying college kids anymore, by and large.

____mr____ 2mo ago
The issue is that there are a bunch of people like this[0] who get incredibly upset and politicize any attempts to be "the adult in the room" and ask for renaming of unsavory names. The funniest of these is when Europeans talk about how they are being "forced" to comply with American cultural norms and you go through their account and they are so deeply steeped in American culture due to their participation in the anglophone internet spaces which are dominated by them. People in Europe will argue with you that you are importing woke culture if you suggest that they shouldn't say the N word, but are seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that the reason they find the word exciting to say and they say it in English is an import of American culture [0]. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49327771 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49327771
maybewhenthesun 2mo ago
I like it that the scruffy teenager hacker mentality is preserved in the name. It was also a bit of self deprecating humour at the time, because using Gimp instead of Photoshop did make you feel crippled a bit. I hope they never give in to the corporate-lawyer induced bland-washing .
- SwellJoe 2mo ago
  I'm not a corporate lawyer. I'm just a Free Software user and developer and I think it's nicer when I can recommend something to someone without having to think about whether I might be saying something rude or hurtful. I assume there was a stink about the name because it bothers some disabled folks. It's not my place to tell them not to be bothered, I'd rather just not do the shitty thing that bothers them. It seems cringey and childish to insist on doing a thing that makes a bunch of people feel unwelcome based on something about themselves they can't change. And, for what? So you can feel like a scruffy teenaged hacker? I like my Free Software community to welcome people of all sorts.
  - TeriyakiBomb 2mo ago
    Having a "stink" is right. Even without much thought, it's off-putting, does not sound professional and really icky. When you think a bit harder, it's just kinda awful. I do actually suspect the name does have some measurable impact on adoption. Most people don't want to say "I gave up photoshop, I use gimp." outside of hardcore linux circles and since then, it has gone from the only open source gig in town to just one of many alternatives.
  - maybewhenthesun 2mo ago
    Anecdote time, back when gimp was still version 0.8 or somesuch , my wheelchair-bound college professor more or less forced gimp on us students because (his words) " You can tell by the name it's software for people like me." He was joking of course, he was just a huge open source proponent. But still, I have the feeling there are way more people thinking people will feel unwelcome than actual people feeling unwelcome. Though people's sensibilities do seem to shift a bit and maybe I'm just becoming an old fart.

roryirvine 2mo ago

Really? In Northern Ireland in the 80s/90s it was always used in the same way as spaz / flid etc - ie. an ableist slur. Kids would typically scream it when someone did something clumsy or uncoordinated. Lovely, eh? I don't think I've actually heard the sex thing being used anywhere in the UK, except perhaps when discussing Pulp Fiction. Even in kink contexts!

SwellJoe 2mo ago
A lot of kink participants are sensitive to oppressive language and try not to use it (outside of a consensual scene that includes it, perhaps). Consent culture is necessarily a culture that doesn't use slurs in daily public life, and at least some who participate in kink are particularly careful about consent.
TeriyakiBomb 2mo ago
Odd! Yeah nah, wasn’t really a thing in England.