I agree that the UI in GIMP is pretty bad, but I really don't find Photoshop's UI to be so clever and easy to use that it blows away the GIMP.

I even prefer the keyboard shortcuts in GIMP better: "m" for move (it's "v" in Photoshop... what?), "r" for rectangular select (it's "m" in Photoshop).

If you've used one for a while, the other seems weird and clunky with an almost identical feature set. Having used the GIMP more lately, I'd say in response: Photoshop is an example of a user interface that has sucked for many many years, but because certain professionals are used to it being that way, it hasn't changed.

For the record, rectangular select is "m" in Photoshop because the Photoshop tool is called the "Marquee" tool (because the flashing dots around the selection look like a theater marquee). So move gets "v" instead.

"V" is actually a better key for move than "m" because it's more convenient to hit with the left hand; many experienced Photoshop users work with the left hand on the lower left corner of the keyboard and the right hand on the mouse/graphics tablet.

Oh please, stop assuming Qwerty or we'll still be stuck with this shitty layout in 500 years!

Heh... I wasn't expecting a keyboard layout complaint as much as a left-handedness complaint, since the latter is bigger problem for more of today's users.

But as I presume you are someone arguing for a more ergonomic layout, I assume you can appreciate Photoshop's ergonomically fortuitous default choices. And as you are someone who likely knows how to remap a keyboard, I assume you are already capable of relocating a shortcut key to an appropriate location and making up an alternate mnemonic to match whatever letter is already there.

using that logic, wouldn't it be better to have "m"ove be triggered with a 'c' or a 'z'. I mean, they're even further to the right than the 'v' on QWERTY keyboards.

It depends on the frequency of use and where the hand is typically located. The index and middle fingers are strongest, so the keys under them are the most valuable. I'm typically chording on the modifier keys and spacebar, so "v" and neighboring keys are quite valuable to me.

I agree that the default tool shortcuts in that area are somewhat wasted; Photoshop seems to have chosen shortcuts more for mnemonic value and got lucky with the Marquee tool forcing Move to the "v" key. Crop ("c") isn't needed with the same frequency as the drawing tools, and Zoom ("z") -- while useful for beginners -- is effectively unnecessary with the ctrl-space and ctrl-alt-space key chords. "x" (exchange foreground and background), however, is extremely useful e.g. for quickly switching between drawing and erasing on black-and-white drawings.

that's because 'm' is used for marquee, which allows both rectangular and elliptical as well as single pixel column (vertical and horizontal) selections.

'v' is used because 'm' is already taken and 'v' does make sense for the moVe command, especially if you stress the second syllable

There is a method to the madness!

maybe it's v because the move cursor looks like a 'v' ??? (and because m is taken of course)