Back in 2019, someone decided that the name of the most popular image editing software on Linux ("The GIMP" -- an acronym of "GNU Image Manipulation Program") was too offensive. And, therefor, "The GIMP" must be forked and renamed in order to save us all from seeing the word.
What ever happened to that new "Not The GIMP" project? What was the fate of a project created entirely for political naming purposes?
The short version: It's dead. And, apparently, The Lunduke Journal is responsible.
Birth of The "Glimpse" Project
On July 6th, 2019, The Glimpse Project was created -- as a protest over the word "GIMP" being offensive and "problematic" to some people.
From the project announcement:
“If English is not your first language, then you may not have realised that the word “gimp” is problematic. In some countries it is considered a slur against disabled people and a playground insult directed at unpopular children. It can also be linked to certain “after dark” activities performed by consenting adults.”
News of the creation of this "Definitely Not GIMP" project was covered all across the Linux and Open Source world -- articles, podcasts, and YouTube videos all talked about this "Woke Fork" of The GIMP. It was the talk of the town. (Even The Lunduke Journal covered the project back in 2019.)
With all of this attention, surely the "Glimpse" Image Editor would have a bright future, right?
Well. Not quite.
Death of The "Glimpse" Project
By early 2021, this new "Not GIMP" project was abandoned.
The website was shut down. Their Patreon account closed. Twitter account deleted.
But... why?
Why did "Glimpse", ultimately, fail?
- Was it because it was based on nothing more than rebranding an already popular piece of software?
- Was it because it didn't actually provide anything new and compelling?
- Was it because the "Woke" ideology which, clearly, motivated the creation of this project was fundamentally off-putting to the vast majority of users and developers?
According to the leader of the "Not At All GIMP" fork, Bobby Moss, the reason for Glimpse's ultimate demise was none of those things.
Apparently, according to the project lead, Glimpse was destroyed after The Lunduke Journal called it a "woke fork":
"If you're angry at Mozilla because Bryan Lunduke said mean things about them, then as someone whose previous project was torn apart after one of his videos called it a "woke fork", I kindly invite you to go [CENSORED] yourself."
What was this "previous project"? Glimpse. Here's the full post (on Mastodon) from the Glimpse lead... so you can see the full context.
So, there you have it. One of the most prominent Open Source projects in the world (GIMP), is forked and renamed in order to cater to a politically correct mob. Then that fork dies.
And, according to the project leadership, The Lunduke Journal caused it to be "torn apart" after off-handedly calling it a "woke fork".
A few thoughts and take-aways:
- Focusing on woke and extreme Leftist politics is a death sentence for software projects and organizations. We're seeing this in lawsuits against corporations -- and many Open Source projects floundering and fracturing after pursuing Woke & DEI political agendas. The story of "Glimpse" is one of many examples.
- Don't mess with The Lunduke Journal. Apparently I can utter two words and destroy entire projects.
