Imendio AB announces the GTK+ on Mac OS X port project

[Mikael Hallendal <micke imendio com>]

Imendio AB announces the GTK+ on Mac OS X port project
Tue Nov 22 12:06:00 CET 2005

The GIMP toolkit (GTK+) matures to include yet another platform. This
project aims to bring native GTK+ support to the Apple Mac OS X
platform. The basic implementation is sponsored by Imendio AB and the
work so far has been done by Anders Carlsson (of Imendio). This project
means that another critical step is taken in the effort to spread this
very successful library collection to all commonly used platforms. The
source code is now available in the upstream GTK+ CVS tree.

“In our aim to offer attractive solutions for software application
development, the crossplatform availability of GTK+ is a very important
piece of the puzzle”
- Michael Hallendal, CEO Imendio AB

Ever since Apple launched the Mac OS X platform the possibility to
interoperate with the other UNIX (BSD) based operating systems and make
applications cross-platform compatible has been a vision seemingly
within reach. In recent years applications used in the Linux sphere have
therefore become available to Mac OS X users and to some extent the
other way around as well.

In the Linux community the GTK+ libraries have had a great success in
attracting software developers. So why is GTK+ so popular? Like any
successful innovation the GIMP toolkit was introduced with great timing.
It has, since the project started, evolved and been perfected trough the
use in many complex applications like GIMP and GNOME. Other factors that
have made GTK+ successful include:

    * The licensing model (LGPL)
    * Its rich features
    * Bindings to many commonly used programming languages

The maturity of GTK+ is confirmed by several large commercial players
like Red Hat, Novell, Nokia and Sun, all choosing it for their
Linux/UNIX based applications and platforms.

“GTK+ is already a powerful tool for developers. Adding native GTK+
support to the Apple Mac OSX platform will help speed adoption of open
source technologies by making it more widely accessible.”
- Timothy Ney, Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation

When GTK+ became available on the Microsoft Windows platform the ability
to easily port GTK+ based applications arose. GTK+ went from being a
platform dependent Linux based toolkit to something that could function
more platform independently. Still the support for the toolkit was not
natively integrated in Mac OS X. An employee at Imendio, Anders
Carlsson, has during this summer, sponsored by Imendio, begun such a
project to port GTK+ to Mac OS X. Imendio has invested approximately $25
000 to date and are aiming to continue to support this open project. The
goal of the project will be to produce the toolkit on this platform
using Cocoa (the native object-oriented application programming
environment on Mac OS X).

For the GTK+ user this means that popular applications will become
available to this new platform. Future GTK+ applications, irrespective
of which operating system they originate from, will be much more easily
ported to the other supported systems.

For the software industry this toolkit represents the best of two
worlds. The platform-native “look and feel” of the applications written
with the aid of GTK+, combined with a code base that can be reused on
all platforms. This reduces the cost of developing cross-platform
applications or re-writing the graphical part of an existing
application. Applications already using GTK+ will more easily become
available to Mac OS X users.

“I’m really looking forward to finally be able to put GIMP natively on
Mac OS X.”
- Michael Natterer, Maintainer of GIMP.

The ability to use a variety of programming languages (like C#, Java and
C/C++ and also script languages like Python and Ruby) is very appealing
to developers. Additionally, GTK+ being an Open Source project makes it
possible to change and improve the code to adapt it to application
specific needs.

“The GTK+ project is excited to see Imendio work on a native GTK+ port
to Mac OS X, which will enable GTK+ applications to work natively on all
major platforms.”
- Matthias Clasen, maintainer of GTK+

Project page: http://developer.imendio.com/wiki/Gtk_Mac_OS_X

About Imendio AB
Imendio is a small European company employing some of the world’s most
experienced and talented GNOME and GTK+ developers. Imendio focuses on
cross-platform library and API development, targeting platforms ranging
from embedded devices to desktops. With extensive experience in
GLib/GTK+ and XMPP/Jabber, Imendio provides first class software
development services.

Media enquiries:
Imendio AB
John Laerum
Tel. +46706960408
press imendio com
http://www.imendio.com

Read this press release on the web:
http://www.imendio.com/press/show/16

-- 
Imendio AB, http://www.imendio.com/
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