Compare to "gimp -image -org" where the top result is not only an insult, but an ableist one that would instantly land you a trip to HR.
git: A silly, incompetent, stupid or annoying person (usually a man).
gimp: A person who is lame due to a crippling of the legs or feet.
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIMP#History
Again, I'm pretty sure the reason I always get downvoted to hell on this one is because people think I'm being "the thought police" or something. And I suppose it's kind of like that but not really?
Yes, personally, I do argue slightly against the name, but honestly, I lose no sleep on it on a personal level.
What bothers me the most is that GIMP feels like a huge missed opportunity. As in -- let's say for sake of argument that the creators are strongly attached to the name, I don't know, even if it was named after Richard S. Gimp and you wanted to honor him, so you have a theoretically "bulletproof" reason.
On balance, it still AINT WORTH IT. You guys had a SERIOUS shot of eating Adobe's lunch and strongly spreading a much better way to do picture editing, but you screwed it up by staying inside your own bubble. The name was just NOT WORTH KEEPING.
But as someone who works in IT between tech folk and regular folk, I immediately percieve that a great number of liminal regular folk are going to 100% nope out of a terrible name like this. Might as well call it Poopy Edit or something like that.
My, small but non zero, experience says the reason these speakers of other language declined to use it was because it lacked features and sometimes because "piracy is also free". They pointed the brush system was basic, PS already had effects they used a lot. No adjustment layers, styles or layer groups to be more efficient. Slow processing because it operated in full data always, while PS solved preview first and the rest in background. And many other things. The Mac ones found no issues with the windowing system (no MDI mode then, with everything wrapped by big window), because it matched more what they were used to, but Windows users found it bad because their OS is not designed for it. None cared about what Gimp or Wilber words are, it was "a poor PS clone with a croissant dog mascot".
GIMP is professional quality software, and no one will believe it because of the name.
I'm thinking about "people in the middle who might pick this up." It's not that it's offensive and hurtful and protecting feelings and whatnot and that's the primary problem.
It's that "possibly offensive" here equates to "incredibly unprofessional."
GIMP is professional quality software and a LOT OF PEOPLE WONT BELIEVE THAT owing to the name. A decent analogy is if it were called Poopy Edit or something like that.