What on God’s green earth is WLBR supposed to mean? Why can’t it have a normal, good name?
The great thing about foss is you can call it whatever you want, fork it even if you feel so inclined.
Hear me out… Everything doesn’t have to be an acronym.
Too bad Krita sucked for my express purpose of shitposting when I tried that.
I feel like GIMP is (as of writing) the only good, still maintained thing still on “gn*me.org”
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 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.
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.
Because their mascot is already named Wilber and BSD already has an infernal mascot.
Yeah and you’d think GNU would like the recognition too.
Why not SIMP(super Image Manipulation Program)?
I’d rather have a little demon than a simp
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.
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.
Can I just use regular iodized table salt, or do I have to have pure, lab-grade sodium chloride?
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 also teaches kids certain words are bad, which 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 just exacerbates the issue.
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 point. 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. Call them dirty-minded for bonus points.
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.
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.
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.
Yeah, it seems like a totally unnecessary move.
I agree with the sentiment, but not the aggressive tone.
Also, *whether.
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.
The “TeX” part is intended to be Greek though, and TeX predates LaTeX.
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.
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.
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Why not something pronounceable?
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.
wlbr_2.36.2_beta_dev.deb
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.
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.
We have been doing that for centuries.
Sooo, basically they’re changing the name that’s somewhat bad in English to the name that’s terrible in all languages? Huh.
“WLBR”
…just rolllrrrs … lorrrs … rolls off the tongue!
I think it’s a deliberately bad name chosen as a Malicious Compliance type fuck-you to people who wanted it to sound “professional”.
Wiiiilllbuuuuur
You never heard of a talking horse?
Wilbur didn’t want food, he wanted love.
E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web
