Re: [Gimp-gui] GIMP ---> Pixi: suggested name change

[marty <marty heavyreckoning com>]

At this point I'm going to ask what many are probably thinking but out 
of politeness aren't speaking up.  I am not as bound by those 
constraints.  Are you trolling?

On 05/10/2017 06:09 PM, Joshua Coppersmith-Heaven wrote:

> Hi Jehan,
>
> Thanks for letting the message through :).
>
> I don't think that just because something is a community project or 
> non-commercial means that it doesn't have to be well designed! Quite 
> the opposite - things like open-source software and non-hierarchical 
> organizations have the potential to show a different way of working to 
> a large audience, and should be shown how good and effective things 
> can be done in this way in contrast with massive corporations and 
> for-profit enterprises.
>
> In terms of timing, it sounds like GIMP 3 will be quite a big 
> development, and therefore could be a good opportunity for giving a 
> fresh look to the project.
>
> I think Pixi is fun and playful as a name, but you are right in terms 
> of similarity of name with the existing software. However, we could 
> always just write to them first and ask them if they would give 
> permission for a similar name to be used. There is never any harm in 
> asking for things like this.  They are also not making hay with the 
> pixie theme (they just have a palette paint logo), so something more 
> characterful and unique would be a significant difference.
>
> But maybe the idea could be thrown out there for the community to 
> cloudstorm new name ideas? Get the developers and users to help come 
> up with and choose a new name, a bit of community involvement?
>
> Cheers
>
>
> Joshua
>
>
> On 08/05/17 17:33, Jehan wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > On 2017-05-08 16:51, Joshua Coppersmith-Heaven wrote:
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > GIMP is a great programme, but it is not a great name. Changing its
> >
> > I have been wondering whether I should let this email in (since you 
> > were not subscribed to the mailing lists, your email goes into a 
> > pending queue for admin approval; next time, subscribe if you want 
> > your email to get directly in) since it felt off-topic.  For 
> > information, the gimp-gui mailing list is to discuss graphical 
> > interface and user experience improvements.
> >
> > Well it can be argued that the name of the program is as much about 
> > user experience as the GUI, so that's why I let the message pass. :-)
> >
> > > identity to something more likeable will help to get more users, and
> > > potentially more developers.
> >
> > This question often comes back into discussion and basically a 
> > possible answer is that first GIMP is not a commercial product. We 
> > are not trying to get "market share", just to make a high quality 
> > image software, many of us in their spare time. Reasons are various: 
> > many for fun, some because they use it and want the best they can get 
> > for their usage, some because they like to work on advanced image 
> > manipulation algorithms, whatever else you want… The fact is that few 
> > people care about what the program is named in the end.
> >
> > Another point is that even considering market share, it could be 
> > argued that GIMP is a very famous brand now. It is known by millions 
> > of people, not only in the FLOSS world, but even people who don't 
> > even know what Free Software means, on all main 3 platforms (Windows, 
> > OSX, GNU/Linux). So changing the name may not be the best move. Many 
> > companies proved that it is actually possible to do so and be 
> > successful, but they would do it first because their product/company 
> > have a bad reputation at some point that they expect to clean out 
> > with a name change; and especially a name change needs to be done 
> > together with a very heavy marketing move. Every big name change of 
> > well-known products or companies is accompanied with massive 
> > advertisement to make it work. Being a community project, this is 
> > quite difficult to do for us and may very well end up as a big failure.
> >
> > When I see that years later, people still call it "The Gimp" instead 
> > of GIMP (I even discussed with someone who was writing books about 
> > GIMP and they would be titled with the old orthography; when I would 
> > tell him, he said he preferred the old writing and won't change for 
> > next books)… What can we expect?!
> >
> > > There is a commercial image editor called Pixie (with an e), but not
> > > Pixi. This makes sense, as long as the software remains a pixel-based
> > > editor. I've thought about the name for a while, before google came
> > > out with their latest phone!
> >
> > Trying to go for a name very close to an existing similar software is 
> > the key to a big failure and probably even a lawsuit (even if not 
> > exactly the same, this other company could tell one try to confuse 
> > people). Why would we do this?
> >
> > > The logo could also feature some kind of pixelated pixi type character
> > > (think a stylised zelda character), to replace to paintbrush-dog,
> > > which seems to not have much in connection with the name gimp.... or
> > > am I missing something?
> >
> > It's true that Wilber does not have much relationship to the name or 
> > GIMP… well do most mascots? Has a penguin any relationship to an OS 
> > kernel?
> > But a lot of people find this character very funny. And as I said, 
> > having fun is a very important part of any community project. 
> > Contributors don't usually contribute to find themselves in a company 
> > atmosphere again, doing boring business chores and being yelled at by 
> > insulting managers because they are not corporate enough.
> >
> > > Be interested to know your thoughts,
> >
> > I am not fully against name changes in some future, if ever GIMP were 
> > getting a more organized community and some people who wanted to go 
> > further. But right now, I feel this would just go wrong.
> >
> > Also I would hate we lose the for-fun part of GIMP development and 
> > around. This should never be forgotten or else there would be no 
> > reason anymore to continue (for me at least). If that means having a 
> > shift with common "good" business practices and having a name which 
> > makes some too-serious people cringe, well so be it. I don't mind too 
> > much (personally again).
> >
> > Also I remind that this name is only a problem in some 
> > English-speaking countries. Other countries don't have any problem 
> > with this name in their language. I personally only discovered that 
> > this was a word in English after starting to contribute (reading 
> > messages similar as yours), even though I had known GIMP for years 
> > already.
> >
> > Jehan
> >
> > > All the best
> > >
> > >
> > > Joshua
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > gimp-gui-list gnome org
> > > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gimp-gui-list
>
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