> the world has enough other problems

maybe that's the issue – the obvious problems seem unsurmountable, so let's do just about anything else.

Parkinsons law on bikeshedding/triviality: the least relevant topic on the agenda gets the most attention.

This isn't new. Brands frequently have different names in different countries due to connotations. Characters in books and films get renamed when they cross borders. Cloact was renamed to Reagent due to people associating it with cloaca. I seem to remember another project that was renamed due to it's connotations in Spanish but I can't find it now.

While it was never renamed, GIMPs name has drawn objectors since well before 2016.

The only reason this is a big deal instead of routine like those is the current backlash against "PC culture" or "SJW"s.

> What's with this weird trend since 2016'ish (?) that everyone is getting offended by everything? Surely the world has enough other problems right now

The only thing new is the degree of performative offense by reactionary elites at people “getting offended” as a response to every complaint of substantive patterns of harm (not mere offense) as a distraction from actual problems.

It's more people having a platform to speak out about how they feel.