MESSAGE
DATE | 2021-05-28 |
FROM | Simon Budig
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SUBJECT | Re: [Hangout - NYLXS] [Gimp-user] Violation of GNOME Code of
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Hi all.
Adrian Midgley via gimp-user-list (gimp-user-list-at-gnome.org) wrote: > What does Michael Richards do?
Please stop this kind of implied ad-hominem attack. Thank you.
And to all others: Thanks for your input. Seems the name discussion rears its head again.
It is not necessary to explain that the term GIMP is not offensive to you. Nobody really disputes that GIMP is a "harmless" word to the majority of the worlds population. But "majority" is not necessarily the relevant metrics here.
And that "whataboutism" regarding other software projects with possibly problematic names is not really helping, since there is nothing to learn from that.
Also nobody really disputes that the original naming of the project is influenced by the pulp fiction movie and also in knowledge of the derogatory use. And while I was not aware of that issue until a few years after getting involved I certainly can understand the thinking that likely happened with the naming, as in "hah-hah-funny" as well as preferring to undersell and demeaning your own project instead of overhyping.
Personally I appreciate the feedback from people who might be the target of the derogatory term. These are the most relevant people in this discussion. But then we do have a self-selecting bias on this mailinglist, since the people offended by the term are less likely to participate here.
This is a knotty discussion, because on the other hand we *do* have a huge brand recognition with our name and renaming the project certainly will have an effect on me (as a non-native english speaker and als not in the "target group" of the derogatory term) and my 24-year-connection with the project. I am very much emotionally attached to that name.
There are tons of technical implications with a renaming and I personally believe they are prohibitive. Even if we were to rename (unlikely) we'd still have to keep our hands on the term GIMP, if only to protect our users from scammers trying to step in the then empty shoes.
>From past discussions with other team members I know that we're quite unlikely to change then name, but we *are* willing to work on the issue by other means. We're willing (and have done so in the past) to reduce the appearance of the acronym and put more emphasis on the fully written name of the Gnu Image Manipulation Program, although it is really hard to not just type the acronym :)
We're willing to engage with other groups in projects that might help reducing the stigma of disabilities and if we somehow would be able to use the power of our brand to help reducing the impact of the derogatory term I firmly believe we'll gladly do that.
Thanks, Simon
PS: Just to clarify: While I am fairly confident that I have an idea about what the other team members think on that issue I do not speak on their behalf. All of the above are my own opinions, this is not an official statement.
-- simon-at-budig.de http://simon.budig.de/ _______________________________________________ gimp-user-list mailing list List address: gimp-user-list-at-gnome.org List membership: https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user-list List archives: https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gimp-user-list _______________________________________________ Hangout mailing list Hangout-at-nylxs.com http://lists.mrbrklyn.com/mailman/listinfo/hangout
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