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jue-gen

Member

Registered: 2022-07-07

Posts: 129  

GIMP won't start, error message

When I try to start GIMP (Excalibur), I get this error message:

Error: eval: unbound variable: (/usr/share/gimp/3.0/scripts/text-circle.scm : 17)  symbol-bound?

Has anyone solved the problem?

Addendum: I just noticed. The problem only occurs with Wayland, not with X11.

Addendum 1: I just saw that too, the command GDK_BACKEND=x11 gimp starts GIMP. However, this is unfortunately not a satisfactory solution.

123@123:~$ GDK_BACKEND=x11 gimp
set device 'xwayland-relative-pointer:10' to mode: disabled
set device 'Virtual core XTEST pointer' to mode: disabled
set device 'xwayland-pointer:10' to mode: disabled
set device 'xwayland-pointer-gestures:10' to mode: disabled
scriptfu-Message: 10:38:06.264: Fehler beim Laden von /usr/share/gimp/3.0/scripts/text-circle.scm:

Error: eval: unbound variable: (/usr/share/gimp/3.0/scripts/text-circle.scm : 17)  symbol-bound?

Oh yes, I'm using Gimp 3.0.4

Last edited by jue-gen (2026-04-26 09:33:02)

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,036  

Re: GIMP won't start, error message

Hello:

... problem only occurs with Wayland, not with X11.

Surprised? Not.

TL;DR:
Wayland is not "the future", it is merely an incompatible alternative to the established standard with a different set of priorities and goals.

Best,

A.

Duke Nukem

Member

Registered: 2018-11-07

Posts: 82  

Re: GIMP won't start, error message

Not the only graphics intensive software that does not work on Wayland. Kdenlive (video editor) doesn't either, last time I tried.

jue-gen

Member

Registered: 2022-07-07

Posts: 129  

Re: GIMP won't start, error message

Thank you very much for this information. This is all very interesting to me.
I can't really judge that, but I've read that Wayland is more secure because it implements modern security concepts like application isolation (sandboxing). Unlike X11, where by default every application can access input (keylogger risk) and screen content of other programs, Wayland isolates windows from each other. Furthermore, less code runs with root privileges, which reduces the attack surface.

steve_v

Member

Registered: 2018-01-11

Posts: 697  

Re: GIMP won't start, error message

Error: eval: unbound variable: (/usr/share/gimp/3.0/scripts/text-circle.scm : 17)  symbol-bound?

Likely has nothing to do with GIMP not starting, it's an error in a "legacy" script from gimp-data-extras. That package is kinda where unmaintained scripts and plugins go to die, so unless you need that specific script it should be safe to ignore.

Native wayland support in GIMP is pretty new, and I have no idea how well (or at all) it works on Debian/Devuan. I can fairly confidently say it's not a problem with GIMP itself (i.e. works fine on wayland/Gentoo and has since 3.0), but that's not to say the Debian build isn't broken somehow.

this is unfortunately not a satisfactory solution.

Why? GIMP starts fine with XWayland, does it not?

(insert usual bullshit, most of it horribly out of date)

As usual, bashing $favourite_punching_bag and reposting the same old page for the 1000th time without even attempting to address the problem at hand does nothing to solve the problem at hand.
Surprised? Not.

by default every application can access input (keylogger risk)

If you have malware running then it already has access to everything in your home directory, including browser storage and login cookies. Keyloggers are the least of your problems. The wayland cultists love to wave this one around since "keylogger" is nice and scary, but really the solution is to simply not run malware, same as it has always been.
Wayland "application isolation" is nice-to-have, but it's not a panacea and it won't save you from any attack currently in the wild.

less code runs with root privileges

Something needs direct access to the graphics and I/O hardware, whether that's the xserver or your compositor (and which of those is "less code") is a matter of taste.
Running the whole xserver as root hasn't been a thing in most distros for a while now (at least not those that use a session-broker/seat-manager), these days it gets access to only the devices it needs - just like a wayland compositor does.

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Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action. Four times is Official GNOME Policy.

jue-gen

Member

Registered: 2022-07-07

Posts: 129  

Re: GIMP won't start, error message

Thanks to everyone.
I’m now starting Gimp on the console with the command GDK_BACKEND=x11 gimp
I’m not marking the problem as “solved”.

Last edited by jue-gen (2026-05-02 09:38:09)

Anonymous Goldfish

Member

Registered: 2026-05-08

Posts: 5  

Re: GIMP won't start, error message

thats wayland for ya a broken mess

steve_v

Member

Registered: 2018-01-11

Posts: 697  

Re: GIMP won't start, error message

thats wayland for ya a broken mess

If you're going to claim this is a bug in or directly caused by wayland, kindly provide your evidence - and file a bug report.
Bear in mind that wayland is a protocol, not a codebase, so unless this is specifically a problem with a wayland specification any such report should be directed to the broken compositor or client application.

Last edited by steve_v (2026-05-09 19:07:10)

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Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action. Four times is Official GNOME Policy.

deepforest

Member

Registered: 2020-03-24

Posts: 471  

Re: GIMP won't start, error message

Surprised? Not.

Its linux baby, here nothing works good
Bugs at linux have name - "features"

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