Using Masks and Layers—Painting, Filling, and Color Tools - GIMP 2.6 for Photographers: Image Editing with Open Source Software - page 222

3.7.2 Typing in GIMP—the Text Tool
The Text tool in GIMP's Toolbox allows you to create dynamic text in an image.
It's called dynamic because the process is based on vector representation in
spite of the fact that the text is added to an image as a pixel element. Vector
representation allows you to post-edit the text as well as its attributes, such
as color and font type or font size. When you type text onto an image, the
process creates independent text layers, which means that the text is not
“baked” on a background or another layer.
With GIMP 2.6, a new addition to the text tool is that the text is now
placed in a text-bounding box over the image. You can enlarge the text box
by dragging the edges with the mouse pointer. The text is then automatically
adapted to the new frame size. You can create titles, individual texts, or
comments about the image, but it is not suitable for page layouts with lots
of text.
Figure 3.46
The Text tool options, GIMP's Text Editor,
and text layers in the Layers dialog