A side by side screenshot of inkscape/gimp/blender for those who don't have them installed

https://cleanshot.com/share/WW9yFdMy

It's just pointless to port GIMP over at this stage, you may as well do a greenfield project without the cultural baggage and poor foundations.

I just want to be able to crop and draw on top of images. Like old Paint. That is literally all I want to ever do with images. What should I use in Linux for this purpose

Inkscape’s UI is much, much better than Blender’s, IMO.

Fantastic is the last word I would use the describe blenders UI/UX.

and then rename it blimp

De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum.