The GIMP name controversy, explained
www.spacebar.news
GIMP was named after a character in Pulp Fiction. More than 20 years later, the name remains controversial and could be holding back the project.
  • corbinOPEnglish
    1016·
    5 months ago

    Right, ultimately it’s their project and they can do what they want, but it’s also their loss every time some person or organization skips it because of the name.

    • everettEnglish
      120·
      5 months ago

      I agree with this, but in open source there’s an extra layer of complexity: the “I don’t care about market share” dev attitude that’s sometimes admirable and sometimes frustrating.

    • sugar_in_your_teaEnglish
      90·
      5 months ago

      But how many people skip it due to the name? What are the actual numbers?

      • corbinOPEnglish
        31·
        4 months ago4 months ago

        There aren’t actual numbers because you can’t poll for that. There’s not a database somewhere that keeps track of every teacher or manager that says “ew” when someone brings up GIMP. There are some documented examples, though, some of which are listed in the article.

        • sugar_in_your_teaEnglish
          30·
          4 months ago

          You can survey users of photo editing software and ask something like:

          • have you heard of GIMP?
          • have you used GIMP?
          • if not, why? name, features, ux, etc