Honest to gods, this conversation happened today, and it may have cost me a job opportunity. The customer was super impressed with my menu design and animation, and wanted to know who we got it from. When I said I did it, their face lit up! Too bad as soon as i said GIMP, they weren’t interested anymore. Has anyone else experienced this? What do you say in similar situations?

  • voidsignal@lemmy.world
    112·
    9 days ago

    It’s funny, because I’m not a native speaker and Gimp means… well… this software. I only learned what it meant years later.

  • chickenf622@sh.itjust.works
    771·
    9 days ago

    Maybe get in the habit of calling it by it’s full name initially. Then it seems like an unfortunate acronym instead of a software made by perverts. Note I’m fairly certain most software is made by perverts, and I’m including myself in that group.

  • VitoRobles@lemmy.todayEnglish
    513·
    9 days ago

    Anyone who tried to bring GIMP into nonprofits and schools dealt with this problem. I cannot explain how many uncomfortable conversations I had with non-technical people.

    And the defenders will continue to say GIMP’s name is fine and still be shocked of the low adoption rate.

    • p0358@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      255·
      8 days ago

      Maybe in America? I can tell you in most of the world, nobody would even think to give a fuck about the name, it doesn’t mean anything. The word “gimp” isn’t even popular enough.

      This sounds like some weird copium: surely the app would take off and replace Photoshop long ago, if they just changed that damn name! There was one fork that thought that, with a different name, died shortly after creation. Because in reality nobody cares about the name.

      • VitoRobles@lemmy.todayEnglish
        117·
        8 days ago

        I’m literally explaining to you the challenges I’ve had.

        In many schools, I brought libre office and ubuntu into the classroom. I taught a whole generation of kids about open source.

        Rather than recognizing that maybe there’s something off here, you shrug and say nobody really cares.

        You’re part of the problem.

    • A_norny_mousse@piefed.zipEnglish
      91·
      8 days ago

      …in English-speaking countries.

      I experienced no such problems recommending GIMP to people/organisations.

    • ITGuyLevi@programming.dev
      92·
      8 days ago

      I’d say it says more about the listener in that situation. GIMP is a great name for a GNU Image Manipulation Program, just like Fanny Pack perfectly describes a bag worn around the waist but you’d be surprised the looks you get in the UK for not calling it a “Bum Bag” instead.

      The people the immediately assume it must have to do with sexual fetishes (or make that connection) just aren’t as familiar with what the rest of the world has been up to.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
      6·
      8 days ago

      That has to be a US thing there’s no way anyone else is like that.

      I work for a pretty button-down organisation and frankly they’re ridiculously obsessive about corporate stuff but even they wouldn’t blink at Gimp.

    • dustyData@lemmy.worldEnglish
      84·
      8 days ago

      Honestly, how do they know the negative connotation of the word gimp?

      Because if you go to the dictionary definition it is the most inoffensive word. At its worst it means weak, an insult barely worse than dweeb and dork. It’s synonym with gumption, it comes from references to fabric, FFS. If you know what a gimpsuit is, or know gimp only as slang or an insult that’s on you and your ignorant perversions.

    • plyth@feddit.orgEnglish
      41·
      8 days ago

      It’s GNU software. Fork it and name it however you want. That’s the freedom that the G in GIMP offers.

      • thesmokingman@programming.dev
        10·
        8 days ago

        Yes. That is a freedom.

        It’s also a big reason why it’s not taken seriously. If you want to get into the orgs comment OP mentioned, your deployment solution can’t be “vendor this forever by creating a downstream build pipeline that only changes the name.” All of the documentation and internet coverage is also going to be using the wrong anyway. Comment OP is talking about adoption, not software freedom.

    • ptu@sopuli.xyz
      41·
      8 days ago

      I’m reading the comments here and still have no clue what’s offensive about the word

      Edit. Why don’t you just come back with ”what suit?”

  • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    475·
    9 days ago

    The first time I heard the name I thought “Why would you admit, in the name, that your software is gimped?”

    Naming stuff is a significant problem in the open-source community (not to say closed source has a monopoly on good names, bad names seems to be a thing these days).

    Thing is if OSS wants to compete, having a meaningful name will go a long way to getting regular users in board.

    • mech@feddit.org
      44·
      9 days ago

      That’s the whole point though: FOSS software originally doesn’t want to compete. There’s no point in maximizing market share when you give away your software for free.
      That’s why the devs call it Gimp, Freax, Gnu, Slackware or the Kool Desktop Environment. They’re hobbyist projects by nature, and got big because they’re useful, not due to marketing. And that’s what I love about them.
      I wish more software (and products in general) were made and named like that.

        • mech@feddit.org
          6·
          9 days ago

          And the name was specifically chosen to keep people from taking the project too seriously.
          Same with Freax, which was renamed to Linux by Ari Lemmke when he uploaded it, without consulting Linus Torwalds first.

      • [object Object]@lemmy.world
        3·
        8 days ago

        There’s no point in maximizing market share when you give away your software for free.

        I wouldn’t quite agree with this, though: in Stallman’s worldview, all software should be free and open-source.

    • toynbee@lemmy.world
      10·
      9 days ago

      A coworker of mine likes to say that there are three major problems in software development: naming things and off-by-one errors.

    • paultimate14@lemmy.world
      91·
      9 days ago

      I hate when the name is just a common word, which makes searching for any information almost impossible.

    • [object Object]@lemmy.world
      8·
      9 days ago

      The hacker culture, from which the modern OSS community stems (‘hacker’ in the original programming meaning), is specifically rather anti-corporate and opposed to seeing software as a product to sell, instead of DIY tools shared between enthusiasts.

    • nasi_goreng@lemmy.zip
      8·
      8 days ago

      Software naming is usually depends on original maintainer language.

      I’ve seen people claiming “weird software name” while it’s just good name in another language. Like it could be Hindi, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and so on.

      Forcing non-Western developer to make “English-friendly” name seems anti-inclusive.

      It’s 21st century. English monoliguist also have to tolerate language accross the world, not just expecting non-English speaker to tolarate them.

    • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
      8·
      8 days ago

      I mean “Chrome” “Excel” “Outlook” “Slack” “Jira” “Acrobat” aren’t exactly meaningful names, but have become recognized brands.

      if you didn’t know what they did you wouldn’t be able to guess from the name.

  • braap2@feddit.it
    35·
    9 days ago

    Just pronounce it “JIMP” and watch the .gif pronounciation debate light up once again!

  • 𝔼𝕩𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕒@lemmy.world
    29·
    9 days ago

    And then along came Microsoft with the Zune and decided to have like this neat Nearby Share feature so you could like…share a song with a friend and their Zune - and called the feature “Squirting”.

  • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    251·
    8 days ago

    I feel like a small drawback of (linux) open source is that everything is made by devs.

    Sometimes I feel like a graphic designer or a marketing person might offer some really basic but solid advice… Like “don’t name your app Gimp.”

    • Yaky@slrpnk.net
      22·
      8 days ago

      Discord is a terrible name for communication software, unless it’s for arguments and disinformation.

      Twitter. Not tweeter (which would make a bit more sense), but I suppose it’s from “twit”, another insult.

      Git, also an insult. And then let’s call sites GitHub and GitLab.

      Names like iPad, ThinkPad, AnythingPad were all criticized for sounding like feminine hygiene products.

      Most sites have a FAQ section, which non-native English speakers often read as “fuckyou”.

      And in russian-speaking countries “eBay” sounds vulgar to begin with.

      • qarbone@lemmy.worldEnglish
        61·
        8 days ago

        Twitter

        intransitive verb

        1: to utter successive chirping noises birds twittering in the trees

        2

        … a: to talk in a chattering fashion What are those people twittering about?

        … b: giggle, titter | A few people twittered at the absurd statement.

        3: to tremble with agitation : flutter a hand twittering

        I’ll give you Discord and Git but the rest feel like stretches.

      • Rooster326@programming.dev
        21·
        8 days ago

        And yet they’ve all been normalized why GIMP is still a sex suit. 🤔

        Also agreed eBay is vulgar. So much scam.

    • plyth@feddit.orgEnglish
      51·
      8 days ago

      That’s a bit like the people who lament the lost beauty of tattooed women with neon hair. Not having to please conventional norms to maximize market shares is a reward.

  • hexagonwin@lemmy.today
    22·
    9 days ago

    maybe just say the G.I.M.P. or something. honestly as a non-english speaker the name Gimp sounds very good lol

  • bonenode@piefed.socialEnglish
    21·
    9 days ago

    That’s when you lean in and feign ignorance. Ask the other person to explain what gimp means.

    • nasi_goreng@lemmy.zip
      31·
      8 days ago

      Not everyone speaks English, and there’s no one standard of English.

      There’s British English, Singaporean English, Indian English, Malaysian English, etc. Forcing one standard of English does not seem correct.

      Like, I’ve seen so many instances on Twitter of Westerner canceling Asian people for speaking “English Asia” (basically English but combined with their local language), just because they misunderstand the meaning of the tweet.

  • A_norny_mousse@piefed.zipEnglish
    191·
    8 days ago

    Why not rename it to Linux Image Manipulation Program?

    Oh, wait…

    Ok, then just Image Manipulation Program?

    … oh shit.

  • zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    17·
    8 days ago

    I usually just say things like “I used an open source image editing tool. It’s like Photoshop, but free!” and then don’t elaborate further heh

    • Dearth@lemmy.world
      4·
      8 days ago

      If you’re pressed further just use its long name GNU image manipulator. It’s a unique name and every search engine will turn up the correct website for gimp when you search it. Or you could just use the letters. “I used Gee Eye Em Pee”

      • zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        3·
        8 days ago

        Using the long name (it’s actually GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a good idea, but I have never actually had anyone press for the actual name Not giving the name also means I don’t have to explain anything if I later used Inkscape or something else as those would also more or less fit the description I gave.