5 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 18.6 ms ] thread
I mean yes, the name is a bit gross and unprofessional, but also the least of Gimp's issues with regards to competing against Photoshop. Gimp is basically still a toy, an image manipulation program for people who don't ever actually need to do anything serious with images, and don't even understand why it matters. Really, the people who complain about the name are a minority, and the vast majority of complaints are about the usability of the software itself (see literally any thread about Gimp posted here.)

And as far as the name goes, unfortunately that's going to become a line drawn in the sand of the eternal culture wars so it'll never be changed, just to spite anyone who cares. It shouldn't matter, but people will absolutely die on that hill in droves.

I hear good things about Krita, though.

Photoshop has made great leaps in capabilities during the past 10 years, while Gimp has largely stayed still. I keep checking in with Gimp to see if anything has changed, and no, nothing much has changed.

If you're using a Mac and only need occasional image manipulation, then Seashore is a good option. My understanding is it's Gimp with sane UI - allowing you to do the most commonly-needed tasks quickly.

>There was another push in 2019, with issue #3617 opened by GNOME developer Christopher Davis pointing out all the previously-mentioned problems.

Pretty ironic because some people found gnomes offensive

Every so often, we take the GIMP out of its box, when we need it. wrestle with it, usually some yelling and frustration, and we manage to get the job done. Then the GIMP goes back in the box, conveniently forgotten until the next time its wanted.

It's kinda ugly, it does things with less grace than others, but it does them.

It doesn't require constant upkeep and we don't hafta let others know that we're good at using it (or not, as the case may be). The shame of utilitarian pragmatism can stay hidden if we want.

"GIMP" is the perfect name for this application.

It's like the lady who fired her window cleaner for whistling a dirty tune.