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GIMP 3.0 Enters String Freeze, Inching Closer To Release (www.phoronix.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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GIMP 3.0 has been more than one decade in the making as the port from GTK2 to GTK3, also transitioning away from Python 2 to Python 3 support, and a wealth of other improvements from the UI to lower down into enhancing this open-source Photoshop alternative.

The GIMP project announced on X/Twitter today that they have entered the string freeze for this much anticipated release.

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 3 weeks ago (8 children)

Do you have evidence of that? That's not what I saw: https://www.gimp.org/docs/userfaq.html#i-dont-like-the-name-gimp-will-you-change-it

I don’t like the name GIMP. Will you change it?

With all due respect, no. We’ve been using the name GIMP for more than 20 years and it’s widely known. The name was originally (and remains) an acronym; although the word “gimp” can be used offensively in some cultures, that is not our intent. On top of that, we feel that in the long run, sterilization of language will do more harm than good. GIMP has been quite popular for a long time in search engine results compared to the use of the word “gimp”. So we think we are on the right track to make a positive change and make “gimp” something people actually feel good about. Especially if we add all the features we’ve been meaning to implement and fix the user interface. Finally, if you still have strong feelings about the name “GIMP”, you should feel free to promote the use of the long form GNU Image Manipulation Program or exercise your software freedom to fork and rebrand GIMP.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I think they are leaving out the part where they called it "The GIMP" in the 90s. They clearly chose the name to be edgy, and they are now trying to justify it after the fact. Complaining about the "sterilization" of language is just out of touch and leaves out the fact that if they stopped using the word, it might just completely fall out of use.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The first public version of "The GIMP" was released in 1995.
Pulp fiction, with a character called "The Gimp" was released in 1994.
I'm pretty sure it's not ableist, just a movie reference.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago

That is probably where they got it, but the word definitely had multiple uses at the time. It may not have been explicitly ableist, but it is and was an ableist word. It also invalidates their claim that they are trying to reclaim usage. Again, they named it that because they thought it was funny, not some grand scheme.

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