I will be locking this issue to avoid non-core developers spamming with the same walls of texts about the project name.
Bruno is a very wise man.
this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2026
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I dunno. A wise man would propose a better name.
A man can be wise and still propose a name that some people don't like. The reason why this man is wise is, he knows what would happen and is wise enough to limit / lock the thread before it happens.
There are names that ‘some people don’t like.’ There are also terrible names. WLBR is both.
Your opinion is one of many. For some the name does not matter, for others GIMP is worse than WLBR. I don't care what the name is. To me the person Bruno was wise to lock it, because he knew non contributor would spam with their opinion and with history. That is the mark of a wise man. This is my point, not how many people like or dislike the new name. That's not the point I am making.
from bad to worse
from guatemala to guatepeor
I propose: WHARGRBL
Why not just Wilber? Just like the mascot.
GNU Wilber
The Linux community can't let an opportunity for an acronym to go to waste. Even more so for a backronym.
Could have had the recursive acronym KINGIMP (KINGIMP Is Not GIMP) smdh
From a name you don’t want to say to a name you can’t say
I think you just pronounce it Wilbur
And here I was worried they would pick another terrible name.
I think they should keep both names and just have WLBR be the "enterprise" version.
However, in non-English speaking countries, nobody has an issue with GIMP. And even my very religious and Murican MIL uses Gimp. She doesn't even know.
If anything, those discussions further the association, as they come up when you google "gimp program sexual" or sth like that.
It's short for GNU image manipulation program. I mean, you could short it to imp, or rename it to Picture & Image Manipulation Program (PIMP).
I propose Scriptable Image Manipulation Program (SIMP)
SIMPly genius!
It must be something that can't possibly be construed as sexual innuendo, like Linux Image Manipulation Program (LIMP)...
It's a GNU program, not a Linux program. It runs on multiple platforms.
eg: the Windows Image Manipulation System
Not the strongest name. Sounds kinda weak.
Maybe "Photographic Image Manipulation Program"?
Pimp it is then!
Gimp is really just a rare/archaic ableist slur anyway - like to refer to someone with a limp or otherwise a leg/lack of a leg that impedes their gait. I've never heard it used in my life.
The sexual usage is from gay bdsm subculture in the 70s that the large majority of ppl who are aware of it are only aware because of Pulp Fiction.
My vote is for pimp
Gimp is really just a rare/archaic ableist slur anyway - like to refer to someone with a limp or otherwise a leg/lack of a leg that impedes their gait. I’ve never heard it used in my life.
I've only heard it used that way once in my life. When I was in high school (about 20 years ago), I hurt my leg while playing basketball and was on crutches for a few weeks. This one kid in one of my classes constantly referred to me as "gimp" throughout my recovery.
He saw Pulp Fiction and thought he was clever
You have to set the WLBR_IS_GIMP env variable to get the new name. So I guess that might be what they going for, at least for now?
I get what you are saying but IMO the old name was hurting adoption. Imagine the headlines if say some city or government announced they are moving to GIMP from photoshop or affinity.
I imagine them being something along the lines of 'Government organisation X moves from Photoshop to free open source alternative' or if a journalist is feeling funny 'Government organisation X moves from paid image manipulation software (PIMP) to GIMP'.
Anyways, I think it's only a minor issue limited to English speaking countries, and only a issue for people who already have issues
Is WLBR supposed to be an abbreviation for something? I realize it is a reference to the mascot Wilber, but apart from that?
They should publish an add-on and call it "Mister Ed".
WLBR was the local radio station from my home town in PA.
There will be a C&D from them. You really shouldn’t use a radio station’s calling as your product name. This will not end well.
Everyone misunderstands Trademark Law, they can only sue if they can prove that it would result in confusion because they provide the same or similar services.
Otherwise it's not a legal case that can be made.
So sure, they could sue them if WLBR starts making a radio show or podcasts, otherwise they have no legal standing to try it
C&D only, if they are in the same space. The radio station is completely unrelated to a computer programs name. Also is the name trademarked? And the radio station is not world wide known either. I doubt there will be any Cease and Desist from either sides. But I can be wrong off course, which is very unlekely (great typo I leave it there).
Is it April fool?
What in earth...gl
Gimp is perfectly fine name...
WTF
Lol
If GIMP is renamed to WLBR, wouldn't you also have to rename GTK into WTK?
Why the hell is everyone focused on the damn name? Stick to adobe if you don't like the name. I need good functionality not a name change.
It’s preventing adoption, crankypants
I mean I get where he's coming from, it shouldn't, just use the damn program and don't focus so hard on the name which in all honesty does not matter where functionality does.
But also people complain on this one because A) Sex is icky and everyone is a Puritan and B) it has been used as a slur in the past I guess. It's almost like naming an RNG tool "Free Auto Generator" or something.
Personally idgaf.
Marketing is unfortunately not about what you personally gaf about, its about mass appeal, what most people gaf about.
Users are fucking stupid, and will throw a fit over the most banal shit, for no explicable reason beyond 'thing x gives me the ick'.
Tell a relative normie you use Fedora, they'll mock you as a reddit dork mall ninja neckbeard.
Yeah but what I think you're missing here is that "that's stupid." We can still call those people stupid for being stupid, when they complain about stupid things. As we're all doing currently. The difference is he thinks users should care about important things instead, you've given up on that, and I still don't actually give a shit either way.
(Tbf also I do agree with him users should often get gud, and I say this as a user, I'm only a "dev" if writing personal bash scripts using copied stack overflow for loops I don't fully understand counts. I do also agree with you in that they're probably not likely to get gud, but I still think it would be good if they did.)
I'm basically just trying to say that the vast majority of users are very, very stupid, compared to a power user or actual dev.
Just think of everyone who bought beanie babies, funko pops, stanley cups, now I guess its 'Nee-Dough' or something.
Thats much closer to 'the average user' than you or me.