Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program), refers to a free and open-source graphics editor. The program is used to retouch and edit images. It can also be used to convert image formats, free form drawing, and more. Gimp is available on the Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems and is under the GPLv3 licenses.
Gimp’s first alpha release was in 1995 as the General Image Manipulation Program. Since then, the amount of operating systems and computer architectures that support the software has proliferated. When Gimp was first released, it was supported on the UNIX systems. These systems were SGI IRIX, Linux, and HP-UX operating systems. As time passed, Gimp had support from other operating systems like macOS and Microsoft Windows. The port which was developed to have support for the Windows 32-bit operating system was first designed by a Finnish programmer in 1997. The design was rolled out with the Gimp 1.1 release.
Gimp software is mostly developed by users as an open-source software project that is tied to the GNOME and GNU projects. The development is done through a public git source code repository. They can also be done through general chat channels and public mailing lists, which are located on the GIMPNET IRC networks. The new features which are proposed are put in open separate source code divisions and are later joined into the main branch. This is done when the Gimp team is sure that these additions won't damage the already existing functions. This means that the features proposed and added do not immediately get merged, and can even take months and years before it becomes fully available on the Gimp platform.