Oooh, wait, that isn't how it works in other programs? I really like that behaviour in GIMP to be perfectly honest, have used it in editing stuff deliberately.
It's a common scenario in software. We think some things like ui designs and workflows are "natural", but they're quire arbitrary, and people just got used to them. Then people who are used to it will feel lost with any different workflow, and people who first learned the different ones may feel at home.
A nice example is the windows ui, that a lot of people who grew up with it feel like the most straightforward way to use a computer, but people who grew up with smartphones usually struggle with it and find something like the gnome ui more straightforward.
Same... I think Photoshop would probably feel difficult to me to get my head around at this point since Gimp's workflow is the one I've known and used for over a decade and a half now
It is annoying not to have a button on the UI, but once you learn the hotkey this becomes a non-issue unless I'm missing something? I suppose this is an issue, but for a piece of free software like this it sort of feels like making a mountain out of a molehill.