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GIMP 3.2 released
(www.gimp.org)
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this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2026
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I'm sure this would get more mainstream acceptance if they changed the name.
What association is it you object to?
Granted, the fourth definition, as a limping person, could be mildly disabilist but I think it's just a case of an old English word becoming two words in different regions (Limp / Gimp).
You're using an outdated dictionary. ;) Try this...
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=%5Bgimp%5D
That even negative connotation is slowly being outdated... Especially in English Asia (Singaporean English, Indian English, etc) where it never have any negative meaning.
Seen school and orgs just casually mentioning GIMP.
I'm sure the mainstream doesn't care or even know what problems a subset of people have. I am not saying it is not a problem for those who have, but don't pretend as if the name is an issue in widespread adoption. In fact, changing the name would only lead to a little adoption, but split the user base and make it even more confusing. Lot of people wouldn't want to use the old name or the new fork, because everywhere and every article talks about how bad the name was. Therefore many people would just distance themselves from the project, without really understanding the issue or even caring.
Let alone all the references in history, web and tutorials on YouTube which is only written for name "GIMP". Changing the name of the main project would be a terrible idea. However I propose anyone who have a problem with it to simply fork it, and do a name and brand change. Without much other work, so it is not far behind to original project. This way people having a problem could just use that instead and everyone is happy.
Yeah, there was that "Glimpse" fork with a mission to primarily change the name annnnd...it was quite short lived.
They had way too much ambition, which was beyond name and brand change. They had or planned changes in functionality and features as well. What I suggest is, a simple name and brand change. They just need to create a patch that is always patching after a new version of GIMP, without further ambition.
I'm an old buzzard and walk with a limp so I'm certainly a gimp... and don't mind being called a gimp... or an old buzzard... even both at the same time... (and using '...' is a privelege of being "Old & In The Way" [band name, album & song title 1975...]...)...
I still remember the first time that I looked for gimp images and I learn taht gimp is used in another context and that is more popular on the other context
It would also instantly make it impossible to find for everyone who knows it as GIMP, and mean that users of the new version wouldn't see any of the huge amount of existing tutorials for it.
The word only really has two meanings in one country anyway (the US).
There are quite a few pieces of software that have 2 different branding. For instance the windows file searcher agent ransack also goes by "file locator pro" to keep from scaring the corpos.
What about GNU IMP? It still has all the meaning.
I like GIMP for what it is. Yet I feel like you're right. A different name and a more serious logo would be good for a more professional (corporate, boring) audience. It's duck s powerful tool, but it doesn't sound nor look like it.
What's wrong with the logo? They already simplified it a lot, and they're not the only serious app with an animal as their logo. It's distinctive and tbh I prefer it to a bland single color silicon valley logo.
Yep, agreed.. it's an amazing tool - esp. as it's (almost?) like Photoshop and other expensive tools.
I just can't suggest it to my friends without being afraid / avoiding / making excuses for an acronym... they'll have to find it themselves and they won't want to admit it either...
Really? You sure they are your friends? I say its a funny acronym, say it once, little snicker, move on. No one cares.
At least there's Krita
I tried Krita. It's not not as good as GIMP is. What I will say is, it is pretty good for what it is and offers stuff that GIMP does not have. In fact I wanted to switch multiple times because of the support for Vector layers and non destructive workflows. But I never liked editing or creating images with it. Their text tool is also terrible (or was, I don't know the current state). Just not a good GIMP replacement for me.
Krita has been working on the text tool in recent years, so it might be better than you remember it.
Krita is excellent, but it's for a different task.
Krita is for image creation. GIMP is for image manipulation.
I argue that GIMP is for image creation too. It does even better job at this, depending on what type of work you are doing. I don't like to create pixel (as in retro gaming) graphics in Krita. I am not talented at all, but I can judge the workflow I think. That was just an example off course. We all know Krita excells at creating painted like arts with a pen and brushes simulation.
My point was they have different strengths rather than saying one is better than the other. Use the right tool for the job, and all that.
I was only talking for myself, which tool is better for me.