Of course it is! How many Windows apps do you need to carefully configure and compile before running? - I appreciate this isn't just on the side of the app, but it is still the mentality. By your own words, the interface isn't done properly - because the creators are more interested in the functional side of things
It must have been a while since the last time you tried the GIMP. There's no configuration or compiling, the same thing with most of the open source software that you can get these days. It's all packaged and ready to install on different machines running different systems. Download the GIMP now and an unpracticed user could have it running in a minute or so. It's not the ordeal that so many people associate with open source.
And I don't think they weren't interested in the interface, I think they just picked a bad design and have stuck with it. They made a choice, keep everything in windows instead of tying it down to a workspace. This takes getting used to for most people and turns a lot of people off to the software. The interface works, it's just not what people are used to. And this is the curse of most open source software. But I wouldn't say that it's designed for programmers, because I know many people that don't know a lick of code that love using Linux and the software for it.
