Slashdot Mirror
GIMP 2.2 Released
wongn writes "Several weeks since the splash screen contest was first announced, the latest milestone release for GIMP has come about - GIMP 2.2.0 has just been officially released. Only the linux binaries and source have yet appeared. From the website: 'The GIMP developers are proud to announce the availability of version 2.2.0 of the GNU Image Manipulation Program. About nine months after version 2.0 hit the road, we have completed another development cycle and can bring a new stable GIMP to our users' desktops.'"
...welcome our new GIMP overlords!
Thanks so much to the GIMP crew for making this software! I absolutely love it for making graphics for my spare-time webdesign!
GIMP developers ROCK!!!
It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.
Or maybe because it is a professional app which creative pro's can easily afford, as opposed to whiny ass kids who think they need such software. Compare this to a hasselbaad camera which costs over 10 times as much. PS is cheap compared to everything else in its intended market.
Jonathanjk.com
That's almost along the lines of getting nervous about talking about the civil rights movement with a black person.
Uh, no, talking about "the G.I.M.P." in front of a handicapped person is along the lines of talking about "the G.N.I.G.G.E.R." in front of a black person. The spoken words carry very negative connotations. If such a thing existed, I'll bet you would be making damn sure the person you were talking to knew what you were talking about before you said it, and you'd feel pretty stupid saying it in front of an auditorium of people no matter what race they were.
GIMP is a dumb name, it doesn't matter in the slightest that you and your circle of handicapped geek friends don't get offended by it because you have the magical foreknowledge that it's just an acronym that means "GNU Image Manipulation Program". If you were asked to give a presentation on the GIMP to a large audience in any setting, you would feel pretty stupid about the second time you said the word "gimp". Acronyms don't come across well in speech. If your boss walked by while you were typing "apt-get install gimp" in your Debian box you'd probably have some explaining to do as well.
It's just dumb, on the same level that the name "BitchX" is dumb for an IRC client. There's no getting around it. It's just done to be cute, or for the shock factor, or so you can post in your blog that, "hey, I'm using BitchX now, and it rocks!" You're never going to attract a lot of people with a name like that. Somehow I don't think the BitchX developer(s) don't really care about marketing to the general public, but it seems like the GIMP developers do. So they would be well advised to consider a name update. Most regular folks aren't even going to want to download something with such a dumb name, no less try it out and talk about it with their non-geek friends.
It's not about being "mature enough to handle it", it's about realizing that the name will never come across well in speech or text to anyone who doesn't already understand what it means. Just because you're mature enough to handle an insult doesn't mean I should be insulting you. The mature thing to do is to realize you're using a word that will end up annoying people and turning them away before they even try the product. The mature thing to do is to change the name. When names like that start changing, it will be a sign that the Open Source community is maturing.
Have the maturity to realize when you are offending people for no good reason, and stop doing it. And don't worry, there will always be room on the fringes for things like BitchX, so you can feel "mature" and cool for using an application with a name that is normally not acceptable in polite society. The fringes is where things like that will always be forced to stay. It's not right or wrong, it's just the way polite societies operate. It's just the way things are. Get over it.