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Thread: GIMP needs a name retouching?

  1. #1
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    GIMP needs a name retouching?

    This was brought up on digg a while ago, I saw it in a comment about an article of the best 'Gimped' images ...
    Personally, the name bothers me; I can't recommend this software to art teachers in school, the ones who no longer get photoshop due to the budget, and I see this as a huge disappointment. Of course there are many unusually named apps, a certain irc client comes to mind , but these are used, IMO, by a different demographic. Don't get me wrong, I love the software, and hey, maybe the name was amusing in the beginning. But now the advanced features are coming, CMYK, GEGL and soon, vector layers; the program is stable and it's a viable solution, ready for the world (and it has been for a while).

    "It works on many operating systems, in many languages" -- gimp.org

    However, I don't think it's going to see any wide adoption (outside of being shipped with various distros or downloaded by fans of the software) purely because of the name.

    Anyway, the name "breeze" was suggested, and there were a few comments in agreement.
    I'm curious as to who also thinks the name is inhibiting GIMP's progress. Also, does anyone have any experience with the GIMP developers, I'm sure a name change has been suggested before, so are they completely set on against it?

    I think that it could, one day, become the "Firefox" of image editing. Though, correct me if I'm wrong, Firefox never suffered from the same problem; perhaps neither will "Breeze". Thoughts?

    EDIT: I phrased something wrong, so I just removed it.
    Last edited by mc4100; July 17th, 2008 at 05:55 AM.

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    Re: GIMP needs a name retouching?

    Quote Originally Posted by mc4100 View Post
    This was brought up on digg a while ago, I saw it in a comment about an article of the best 'Gimped' images ...
    Personally, the name bothers me; I can't recommend this software to art teachers in school, the ones who no longer get photoshop due to the budget, and I see this as a huge disappointment. Of course there are many unusually named apps, a certain irc client comes to mind , but these are used, IMO, by a different demographic. Don't get me wrong, I love the software, and hey, maybe the name was amusing in the beginning. But now the advanced features are coming, CMYK, GEGL and soon, vector layers; the program is stable and it's a viable solution, ready for the world (and it has been for a while).

    "It works on many operating systems, in many languages" -- gimp.org

    However, I don't think it's going to see any wide adoption (outside of being shipped with various distros or downloaded by fans of the software) purely because of the name.

    Anyway, the name "breeze" was suggested, and there were a few comments in agreement.
    I'm curious as to who also thinks the name is inhibiting GIMP's progress. Also, does anyone have any experience with the GIMP developers, I'm sure a name change has been suggested before, so are they completely set on against it?

    I think that it could, one day, become the "Firefox" of image editing. Though, correct me if I'm wrong, Firefox never suffered from the same problem; perhaps neither will "Breeze". Thoughts?

    EDIT: I phrased something wrong, so I just removed it.
    Short answer? No. Should BSD change their mascot because a few uptight Christians don't like a cartoon devil? The people who are that sensitive probably aren't the type of people you want in a software community anyways.

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    Re: GIMP needs a name retouching?

    http://gimp.org/docs/userfaq.html#Name

    GIMP is a stupid name. Why can't you change it?

    GIMP is comfortable with its name and thinks that you should apologise for your rudeness.
    They like it, apparently.

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    Re: GIMP needs a name retouching?

    Quote Originally Posted by mc4100 View Post
    This was brought up on digg a while ago, I saw it in a comment about an article of the best 'Gimped' images ...
    Personally, the name bothers me; I can't recommend this software to art teachers in school, the ones who no longer get photoshop due to the budget, and I see this as a huge disappointment. Of course there are many unusually named apps, a certain irc client comes to mind , but these are used, IMO, by a different demographic. Don't get me wrong, I love the software, and hey, maybe the name was amusing in the beginning. But now the advanced features are coming, CMYK, GEGL and soon, vector layers; the program is stable and it's a viable solution, ready for the world (and it has been for a while).

    "It works on many operating systems, in many languages" -- gimp.org

    However, I don't think it's going to see any wide adoption (outside of being shipped with various distros or downloaded by fans of the software) purely because of the name.

    Anyway, the name "breeze" was suggested, and there were a few comments in agreement.
    I'm curious as to who also thinks the name is inhibiting GIMP's progress. Also, does anyone have any experience with the GIMP developers, I'm sure a name change has been suggested before, so are they completely set on against it?

    I think that it could, one day, become the "Firefox" of image editing. Though, correct me if I'm wrong, Firefox never suffered from the same problem; perhaps neither will "Breeze". Thoughts?

    EDIT: I phrased something wrong, so I just removed it.
    a name retouching like GimpSHOP ?? go use that instead. or better yet fork it and rename it
    , is that simple.

    remember Pidgin ? some guy thought it was not fun enough, so he forked it and named it FUNpidgin

    i don't care for names, Ubuntu sounds weird too

    openMOKO in my native language (spanish) means openBugger, but do i care ? nop

    The plus side is that these weird names give it more publicity

    you never studied how publicity worked right?

    why would a person name a company Apple? did an Apple fall on his head? what does an Apple has to do with computers?

    micro-soft creates a Big Bloated OS... thats not micro anymore... maybe we should call them Bloat-soft

    oh wait GooGLE, YahOO, e-Bay, You-tub??!! wtf ! i can go on and on...

    photoshop is better ? at first people thought it was a store where you bought photos.... (many even do today..)

    i like Gimp because i can **** off some people, "Hey, did you Gimped it?"
    Last edited by madjr; July 17th, 2008 at 06:29 AM.
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    Re: GIMP needs a name retouching?

    GIMP is a cool name IMO.

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    Re: GIMP needs a name retouching?

    Gimp has a very negative connotation in English. So, as a name useful for mature people, it fails. If they don't want GIMP to become popular, they can keep the absurd name. If they want to get people to use it and Linux, they can think about changing it. Acronyms are confusing in general. Actually I have downloaded "Seashore" for the Mac which is a nicer name than GIMP.

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    Re: GIMP needs a name retouching?

    Well -- the biggest negative reaction that I was aware of to the GIMP was that the word "gimp" is also a derogatory term for someone who's crippled. This isn't quite the same as criticizing a mascot in the form of a cartoon devil. In this light, the FAQ entry for the GIMP also seems to be somewhat rude.

    Although it's ultimately a decision for the developers, I think it's definitely important to consider all affected audiences, especially if they're a demographic that gets shat on all the time (and the physically handicapped certainly do). Keeping an unpopular and possibly offensive branding should probably just have a better reason behind it than liking the recursive acronym.

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    Re: GIMP needs a name retouching?

    Gimp isn't really used as an insulting word very often. In fact, when I read the OP it took a few moments of head-scratching for me to remember its negative meaning.

    Personally, I think "GIMP" is a cute little name. It's already quite wide-spread in the graphic design field, so it shouldn't be changed.

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    Re: GIMP needs a name retouching?

    Moved to Recurring Discussions.

    For the record, many people associate the term "gimp" with its usage in the American film Pulp Fiction. In it, there is a very minor character called "the Gimp," who is essentially a BDSM slave. That's the most negative association in many people's midns, I think.
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    Re: GIMP needs a name retouching?

    The name "GIMP" is fine, it's just a name and a catchy one at that, did the name "google" turn people away at first? Haha I don't know But the point is that the name is not "inhibiting GIMP's progress". Personally I think "Breeze" sounds really lame.

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