The first thing I do when I launch Gimp is to make the Rectangle Select Tool the active selection. The default selection is the Paintbrush Tool. I find this selection dangerous because it's easy to paint over an image that I do not want marked up.

There must be some sort of config file that can be altered. Any ideas? I am using Gimp 2.6.8 under Ubuntu Linux.

Open GIMP, select the Rectangle Select Tool, go to File --> Preferences --> Input Devices, click on "Save Input Device Settings Now"... voila!

Thanks for getting back to me. My version of Gimp has a different menu structure but you got me on the right path. Here's what I did to solve it.

1. Open Gimp and select the tool you want active (in my case Rectangle Selection Tool)
2. Edit->Preferences->Tool Options
3. Click on "Save Tool Option Now"

Relaunch Gimp and your new default should be active.

I don't know why Gimp keeps changing its interface. It's impossible to give advice to someone who is trying to learn how to do something. Gimp is a great tool and I often advise newbies (Windows or Linux) to use it for modifying images.

Thanks.

What's wrong with undo?

Yes, you can do an undo if you notice that you have actually screwed up the image but why even be faced with the situation? That's why personal defaults are good. The above solution satisfied my issue. Thanks to colucix for pointing me in the right direction.