For a very long time now, GIMP has always been in the default image manipulation software in Ubuntu. Now that is about to change. It seems pretty certain that Gimp will not be included in the default installation of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. This decision was taken at the Ubuntu Developer Summit which is going on in Dallas, US. GIMP has already been dropped from the recently released Fedora 12 Desktop editions.

Why?

It seems like the decision to remove GIMP has been mainly due to the fact that normal users don't use or don't need to use GIMP. GIMP is generally used as Photoshop replacements and has a number features. Even among the normal users who use GIMP, it is generally used just for very simple applications like cropping pictures. These kinds of simple image manipulations can be done using other softwares like F-Spot. Moreover, removing GIMP will free up space in the CD which can be used for other stuffs.

What does this mean?

Actually it means nothing big and I am sure it will not affect the users at all. Although not in the default installation, GIMP will be still available in the repository. All that you need to do get it if you want it is "sudo apt-get install gimp". Moreover, we can expect something new as the space freed after removing GIMP in the CD will be occupied with something new.

source: www.omgubuntu.co.uk