The problem with GIMP

corbin@infosec.pub to Technology@beehaw.org – 96 points –
The GIMP name controversy, explained
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I guess you can't quantify how much the name has helped it. How many people remember it because of its quirky name. Without knowing both numbers it's hard to know if it's a net positive or negative.

Meanwhile I still don't know what gimp is besides it being a graphics software.

A gimp is any of the following:

  1. A cripple
  2. A particular kind of BDSM role
  3. Twisted silk, worsted, or cotton with cord or wire running through it, used chiefly as upholstery trimming.
  4. (in lacemaking) coarser thread which forms the outline of the design in some techniques.
  5. fishing line made of silk bound with wire.

The last three I got from the internet.

Gimp is a slur for people with physical disabilities in the UK at least

It's kinda a slur in the US in the sense that people claim it's a slur, but I've never heard anyone actually use it that way.

Same in Canada and the US. If someone calls you a gimp, it’s a derogatory term that belittles your physical abilities.

Ok, now the name is actually weird.

"Eww, like the coarser thread which forms the outline of the design in some lacemaking techniques!? That is just a bit gross don't you think?"

No one. No one remembers it fondly because it’s got a “quirky” name. That’s not how software works. People use software because it’s useful. Not because it’s edgy or has memorable branding. I would rather a competent design tool period. The name is irrelevant. We aren't selling cookies or an energy drink. We are empowering people to get things done. You think your spoon with a hole in it is going to sell because you call it “Faggot”?