• cygnus@lemmy.ca
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    5 months ago

    I think the UI and lack of non-destructive editing is holding it back more than the name, but IDK

    • corbin@infosec.pubOP
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      5 months ago

      Yeah, the destructive editing and lack of a content aware fill is made me stop using it and go back to Photoshop. Krita also seems more usable these days in the FOSS world. The name is a lot easier to fix than those missing features, though.

    • millie@beehaw.org
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      5 months ago

      I absolutely love the UI. It’s literally a major part of why I prefer it.

      • reka@beehaw.org
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        5 months ago

        which is great for you, but not for anyone who has even briefly used more mainstream options

        • millie@beehaw.org
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          5 months ago

          Cool condescension, but I’ve been using Photoshop on and off since 2005, have occasionally used Illustrator, and used to spend an absurd amount of time with Flash. In addition to GIMP, I currently have Krita and Inkscape installed.

          I literally prefer GIMP’s UI. It doesn’t have extra shit, it doesn’t try to force me into a single window, and it goes really, really well with a multi-monitor setup. I don’t care that it doesn’t automatically edit non-destructively, because my workflow is adapted to it. Layers and folders are plenty.

          No one piece of software is going to be the ideal solution for everyone. That’s capitalistic exceptionalism infecting the rational analysis of what tool suits which user best. Photoshop may suit you better, but I’d take the sleek usefulness of GIMP over the bloat that accompanies all that extra stuff I don’t need any day.

          Why do I need an AI strapped to my tool for pixel art, pathing, and masking?

          • reka@beehaw.org
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            5 months ago

            Wasn’t supposed to be condescending, apologies that I came across like that. I just more meant you aren’t representative of who a FOSS potential killer app needs to reach. I agree, I don’t want cloud, AI, subscriptions. But I do want a tool palette and interaction experience that doesn’t require looking at the docs to use.

            • millie@beehaw.org
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              5 months ago

              You have literally no idea who I am or what I do.

              I used GIMP to make a mock-up of a sign for a restaurant just yesterday. Is it going to be the tool I use for the final product? No, because that’ll be in vector, but it’s a lot easier to slap something together in than Inkscape or Krita.

              ‘Killer apps’ are meaningless in comparison to useful apps. I’m an artist who needs usable tools for her work. GIMP qualifies. Personally, I find it way easier and more intuitive to navigate than Krita, Inkscape, or any of Adobe’s suite. It may not be for you, that’s cool.

              But what isn’t cool is to pretend you know about other people’s lives and what they need. Speak for yourself, you are perfectly capable of doing that. If you don’t like GIMP’s UI, that’s great. If you think GIMP’s UI is absolutely horrible for every user and nobody would ever use it for professional work… you’re literally just completely wrong.

      • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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        5 months ago

        Yes and it does help tremendously, but I much prefer Krita. What I’d really like is Affinity Photo on Linux, even if it isn’t FOSS…

        • Muscar@discuss.online
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          5 months ago

          You might have missed the news, Affinity sold out to Canva. Really sucks, Affinity was the only truly good alternative but I put it in the mental “never touch” category immediately when that happened.

          • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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            5 months ago

            You might have missed the news, Affinity sold out to Canva.

            Oh FFS, I had no idea… Can something not be turned to shit by big tech for once?

  • herrcaptain@lemmy.ca
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    5 months ago

    It seems like the consensus of this thread is that the name isn’t holding it back. That was my thinking going into it, but the article makes some very valid points such as the name (being related to a sexual and sometimes derogatory word) making it a non-starter in some organizations.

    I have it installed on all our computers at work for basic image editing, but we’re a small business and never gave it much thought. I can absolutely see it being problematic in a school setting, however. More to the point, Adobe has ably demonstrated: get them hooked on your software in school and you’ll dominate the market. Imagine if kids had been learning GIMP instead of Photoshop all these years.

    Anyway, I’ve got no dog in this fight. Just pointing out what I see as a valid point in the article.

    Also, I like their original name possibility of IMP much better. The mascot could have been a cute little imp instead of … whatever it is now.

    • unfnknblvbl@beehaw.org
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      5 months ago

      My very large organisation has Gimp available for basic image manipulation. I’ve tried to get them to use Paint.NET instead, but nooooo… Apparently we like hitting nails with jackhammers around here

  • Floon@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    The name holds it back more than you know. No EP or AD wants to put “The GIMP” on their software list for a project. I have to have a conversation with someone ensuring we’re good on all our licenses, and they ask, “What is this GIMP thing?” Answering it makes me sound like an unprofessional jackass. The company would rather just pay Adobe.

    • meseek #2982@lemmy.ca
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      5 months ago

      I don’t even want to tell people I use it because of its name. I would never bring it up in a work setting in this day and age when I look at Slack and see everyone list their pronouns.

      The fact they haven’t clued into this is just wild to me. A shame it throws the work of so many people under the bus.

      Also, to call it after the Pulp Fiction character is insane to me. Let alone that everyone on the team signed off on it. What were the second choices? Diarrhea? Herpes? Like dafuq.

    • Baggins@beehaw.org
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      5 months ago

      This. No amount of excuses or lengthy explanations. It’s childish and unprofessional.

    • state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de
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      5 months ago

      Most of the world does not have English as a first language and thus the meaning of the word “gimp” is not widely known. Personally I do agree that the name is dumb, but it’s a very English as a first language issue. My daughter is learning to do basic stuff with GIMP in school because it’s free. The name is not an issue because nobody knows what a gimp is.

      • _MusicJunkie@beehaw.org
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        5 months ago

        I’ll use the cliche meme of “I was today years old when I learned where the name comes from”. Just made the connection when I read this article, and I love Pulp Fiction.

        But I too am not a native English speaker. Just always accepted the clunky acronym as the reason for the name.

  • Lvxferre@mander.xyz
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    5 months ago

    The problem is considerably smaller if you consider that the software is used by a lot more people than English speakers (both L1 and L2+). For these, “gimp” is not some sex stuff, but rather that critter chewing on a brush. And even for L2+, the word “gimp” is often missing from our vocabs.

    As others said in this thread, the actual problem holding GIMP back is called user interface. It has improved, but it’s still awful.

  • darkphotonstudio@beehaw.org
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    5 months ago

    Krita has mostly left GIMP in the dust, as far as UI and basic tools. The brush engine and ability to handle large files is so much better. It’s vector and text tools need work, and so do the image filters and such. Even so, Krita destroys GIMP. Even the name, which isn’t great, is leagues better.

  • perishthethought@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    I have no stake in this, but maybe just drop the ‘p’?

    GIM avoids the slur but is still very close to the current name.

  • SuperSpruce@lemmy.zip
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    5 months ago

    I never knew the word was used as a slur or had sexual connotations. I thought it was a verb akin to “nerf” or “cripple”, as in “Windows 11 gimped the taskbar functionality.” I guess this word is still bad, as I want to enhance, not “gimp,” my pictures.