Re: Farewell

[Ardhan Madras <ardhan rocksis net>]

Its been long time since I've posted to gtk-app-devel-list, this is the
best joke ever!
I'd eat my cheap keyboard for other post like this.

Ardhan


On Sunday, April 17, 2016, Andrew Robinson <arobinson18 cox net> wrote:

> To all my fellow developers,
>
> I can see that I am not going to get anywhere with anyone in this group
> regarding my GTK issue, so I am abandoning my GTK+ project and moving on
> because it was a critical problem. But before I move on, I think other
> programmers like myself should know why I choose GTK+ in the first place.
>
> Good things about GTK+:
>
> 1) Cross-OS. I can use it on Mac, Windows, and Linux. All I need to do is
> change linkers to do so.
>
> 2) Glade. Even a programmer wannabee could almost learn how to make
> cross-OS
> programs using Glade. I especially like how you could use it with the
> gtk_builder() functions. I will really, really miss this part of GTK.
>
> 3) Simplicity. It is far, far easier to program the GTK+ GUI than it is
> with
> the Windows or Mac GUI. The code is smaller, has less bloat, is consistent
> in
> it's use of functions, and is therefore far easier to read.
>
> 4) Mature. It has all the functionality you need. Nice looking components,
> themes, etc. Thoroughly documented as it should be.
>
> Bad things about GTK+:
>
> 1) Not exactly end-user friendly. I could package the GTK+ runtimes with my
> application, but it would turn my little tiny program into a massive
> download.
> I could avoid this by telling my end-users to install GTK+ for themselves,
> but
> the vast majority of end-users are not programmers and do not want to have
> to
> perform the necessary steps to install a compiler to use to compile the
> GTK+
> libraries. Grandmama and grandpapa just want everything to be plug and
> play,
> and GTK+ is definitely not plug and play.
>
> 2) Not exactly programmer friendly. Because of number one above, I would
> have
> to create another project just to provide another application to install
> GTK+,
> or I would have to create a horrible-to-maintain manual for end-users to
> install GTK+ that would be too complicated for most grandmamas and
> grandpapas
> to understand anyways.
>
> 3) Licensing. If I provide my own installer for the GTK+ libraries, I will
> have to provide and maintain my own separate copy of the code. This is way
> too
> much work for such a simple thing.
>
> 4) Little to no community support. This forum was a perfect example of
> that,
> but it isn't just GTK, it is the entire Linux community. I remember running
> into a problem with Ubuntu when it first came out. If I lost power or
> accidentally removed my USB stick before unmounting it, it would brick my
> stick and only a Windows computer could unbrick it (with Window's scan and
> repair, which Ubuntu couldn't do because it said the stick had an "unknown
> file system"). The community response was horrid. I had a workaround but
> Ubuntu never got it fixed to my knowledge.
>
> 5) Scary group. Like Microsoft and their dramatic move from Win7 to Win8,
> GTK
> had a winning formula but then threw it all away and started from scratch
> again. If you have a winning formula, stick to it!! GTK got lucky because
> GTK3
> appears to be just as good as GTK2, but their dramatic move caused a loss
> of
> customers, just like Win8 and Win10 has or will. It also makes me leery of
> the
> GTK project leaders because how do we know they won't throw GTK3 out the
> window with the next release of GTK4, making all my previous programs
> obsolete?
>
> With the release of Win8 and Win10, I *WILL* abandon Windows. Microsoft has
> abandoned me, a loyal customer, for what I think are purely profit based
> reasons, so I will abandon them. But where to go? While there is a lot to
> like
> about Linux, there is a lot to dislike about it too, so it is the lessor of
> two evils instead of an actual choice. Mac is very good but way too
> expensive
> and has limited hardware. Imagine trying to create a startup up on a
> limited
> budget, and equipping all your users with a Mac. You could go broke before
> you
> even started. You can develop custom hardware, but it can only be USB or
> Bluetooth based only. Good luck trying to develop any other type of
> hardware
> to run on a Mac. And if you find a programming issue with a Mac, good luck
> trying to get them to admit it or change it, unless you are a multi-billion
> dollar corp.
>
> So I am becoming homeless in the OS world, with no one to turn to and
> nowhere
> to go. But in the meantime, I can pretend to still be going somewhere
> eventually, hence the reason for turning to GTK. But with that out of the
> picture, my current choices are: AntTweakBar, MyGuy, Agar, QT, oZone,
> MiniGUI,
> Awesome, Awesomium, Crazy Eddies' GUI, OpenGUI, and TK. There are many
> more,
> but these are the only ones I am going to look at.
>
> Wish me luck and I will wish you luck,
>
> Andrew
>
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