I can understand the desire to change it given that the current name is arguably a slur in some contexts, but this is a terrible new name. There was a fork awhile back with this same motivation called “Glimpse” - I really think they should have chosen a name with some continuity from the original, and certainly not what looks to be an initialism (I never would have come to “Wilbur” on my own).
I also would not have come to Wilbur on my own. Gimp is a weird name, but at least it’s pronouncable. Glimpse sounds great to me tbh. A nod to GIMP, but also a sensical name.
Wlbr is a weird name but Wilbur would be fine.
Edit. Gimp mascot is apparently named Wilber
Call it GINP… GINP Is Not Photoshop
This is the potentially most ‘linux canon accurate’ name possible, which amuses me greatly, but its also essentially the worst name possible for… normal human people that might use the software, lol.
I take this entire comment as a compliment lol
I am not clever enough to phrase this reply as an antagonistic acronym, but yes I did mean it as a compliment, hahaha!
Why not just Wilber? Just like the mascot.
Perhaps ‘WiLBeR’ would be a compromise?
Its … basically following what I’m going to call ‘GLaDOS case’ rules.
???
Just sort of seems closer to the kind of silly spellings of robot names in a fair deal of movies and such?
GNU Wilber
The Linux community can’t let an opportunity for an acronym to go to waste. Even more so for a backronym.
Could have had the recursive acronym KINGIMP (KINGIMP Is Not GIMP) smdh
That’s for the fork with a UI implemented in Qt.
It’s another case of OSPNS - Open source projects names sucking .
It’s not the new name but an alternative. I guess it will have to fit where GIMP does, so it’s better to have the same amount of letters.
This GIMP issue means nothing to me, and I refuse to let a puritan (almost The Handmaid’s Tale-like) crew dictate societal norms.
Why the rename? Trademark issues?
I propose: WHARGRBL
The sound of a dog drinking from a sprinkler?
Bingo!
I mean, so long as it remains configurable and they don’t change the entire project. I don’t see an issue with giving folks the option to mask the name in environments where they might not want to attract anyone’s ire.
So, we’ll pronounce it “Wilbur”?
I’m sure those in charge of this had the argument and went 'round and 'round with it. And, this is what they came up with.
Whatever, we’ll get used to it, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea. It will probably hurt brand recognition more than the mildly-offensive “GIMP” ever has. At least when noobs heard “gimp”, their ears would perk up in mild surprise, and they’d ask what it is, there-by solidifying the product in their minds. “Wilbur” just won’t have the same effect, because there’s no surprise. They’ll ask, but the impact will not be as great, and they’ll forget. “Wilbur” is forgettable as a name for anything, or anyone. “Gimp” is not.
I’ve always thought the better recourse for problematic labels is for the targets of their denigration to embrace and claim them as their own. This diminishes, and potentially eliminates, the power of their oppressors to wield it in an incendiary way, and they can then choose to suppress its use once the imbalance has shifted sufficiently.
Note: this is from the perspective of someone who largely embodies the peak of unearned social and demographic privilege, so season with NaCl to suit.
Can I just use regular iodized table salt, or do I have to have pure, lab-grade sodium chloride?
I didn’t know Gimp was a slur/cuss. I always knew GIMP as nothing but the mediocre image manipulation tool.
Depending on context, it can be an image editor, slur, or kink term. I’d bet money on the image editor being named for the kink term and it’s very possible the original devs didn’t know it was a slur in certain regions.
To be honest, this seems like a stupid fix to a non-issue.
There’s already Latex, and the purists calling it Lateh only make it seem like they know and are ashamed.
Or Uranus being pronounced not as your-anus but urine-us. The “alternate/kid-friendly” option is just plain worse. It teaches kids certain words are bad, and this is a bad idea for a multitude of resons I won’t get into.
I say keep GIMP GIMP, loud and clear. No need to be ashamed, because it isn’t shameful.
Attempting to avoid this absolute non-issue by ingenious pronounciation or rebranding the issue just exacerbates it.
It’s called “GIMP” and not “Fuck Me then Go Out The Door”. Wether or not GIMP was a moment of “funny humor” or not is beside the issue. The “official” explanation is perfectly belieavable, and therefore suitable enough. Just run with it.
If an idiot asks “Why’s it called like [insert-here]”, just say it’s a fucking coincidence and you don’t care.
There’s already Latex
wait what? Latex is used in tons of non-sexytime things, surely nobody’s raising an eyebrow at that?
amer*cans
Well, people still do. Yet it hasn’t been rebranded. And GIMP should follow.
The “TeX” part is intended to be Greek though, and TeX predates LaTeX.
I thought Uranus was said more like yur than your, no o sound.
I pronounce Uranus as Οὐρανός
Soo… our-anus?
ΟΥ in Greek makes sounds like oo as in look,wood etc. It does not lead with a γ sound that would make Uranus sound naughty.
Of course it should also end in -os as -us is a Latin ending.
Yes. Gimp is the photo editor.
I’d heard some sickos in some place use the word Gimp for something bad. Some sick minority are the last people to listen to about the name of software that’s used world wide by people who don’t know about those sickos.
Which is what the name has not been changed. Put your own house in order.
Not sure if you’re kink-shaming or ableist-shaming.
I’ve only heard the name gimp is used by some in a bad way. I don’t know, nor want to know, what they use it to mean.
Literally no usage of the word gimp is bad, unless your kink shaming or being ableist…
Its just a bdsm term primarily.
I agree with the sentiment, but not the aggressive tone.
Also, *whether.
There’s already Latex, and the purists calling it Lateh only make it seem like they know and are ashamed.
It’s always been pronounced “Lah-tek” or “Lay-tek” (not “Lateh”). That’s because it comes from Greek where X makes a K sound.
Knuth’s book states plainly that the X sounds like the ‘ch’ in the Scottish word “Loch”. (Or the ‘h’ in hawk-tua for more modern readers.)
Yeah, it seems like a totally unnecessary move.
Another example is Coq, the interactive theorem prover, named after CoC, an abbreviation for calculus constructions, the type theory on which Coq is based, and the co-creator Thierry Coquand in whose native language (French) coq has no sexual connotation and is simply the word for rooster (male chicken).
I have just now seen on Wikipedia to gather this information that it was renamed to Rocq last year after 41 years.
Or Uranus being pronounced not as your-anus but urine-us. The “alternate/kid-friendly” option is just plain worse. It also teaches kids certain words are bad, which is a bad idea for a multitude of resons I won’t get into.
Look, there’s nothing wrong with the word “anus” but if you’re actually in the field of astronomy that particular pun starts to get old after about the 10 millionth time. Some people just want to be able to talk about the seventh planet without the room erupting in giggles every time they say its name.
Spare a thought for the poor astronomy student doing thesis work on the volatile gases of Uranus. They know, they get it, they just want to be able to have one serious conversation about it.
Great, now I can stop renaming it on business PCs
Might look edgy or funny to some, but at the least isn’t professional and is offensive to many.
Gimp / retard / spaz
I always went the other way and would loudly announce when I needed to open it for photo editing “Time to bring out the GIMP!”
That’s not how the word gimp was used. It was a cripple. Somebody with a gimp was somebody with a limp.
Couldn’t they just call it IMP(Image Manipulation Program)?
Yeah, GNU IMP. Recognisable and easy to understand for those familiar with the old name.
WLBR just seems like people being clever for clevers sake.
Yeah we can just call it GIMP for short
Yeah and you’d think GNU would like the recognition too.
Because their mascot is already named Wilber and BSD already has an infernal mascot.
The Image Manipulation Program Formerly Known As Gimp, or
TIMPFKAG
It’s the perfect name: Pronounceable, unique i.e. searchable, and a silly abbreviation. Nobody could object to that.
Why not SIMP(super Image Manipulation Program)?
I’d rather have a little demon than a simp
Would you prefer a LIMP or a PIMP? Or are you a WIMP?
Why not something pronounceable?
wlbr_2.36.2_beta_dev.deb
Wilbur is very pronouncable!
The name needs to reflect the advanced nature of the program. Gimp is so simple to remember that a commoner would get the impression that they could also use it.
If we stop using words because someone, at some point in time, misused them and attached negative connotations to them, then by 2100 the english language will be censored in its entirety.
We have been doing that for centuries.
Language just like culture is subject to constant change. It wouldn’t be censored in its entirety but changed. Because there are words that are bring used instead.
We can discuss if it’s necessary to change some words and I agree that some shouldn’t be changed. But some needed and need to be changed like the n word. The line of demarcation isn’t clear on these issues and depend on a conversation about societal norms.
Wiiiilllbuuuuur
Sooo, basically they’re changing the name that’s somewhat bad in English to the name that’s terrible in all languages? Huh.
