OOP, C, COM, and Bonobo

[Ryan Marsh <ryan butterflysoft org>]

Miguel, et. al.

I am trying to find some clarification of design and implementation
decisions behind GTK+ and the Bonobo framework. Firstly my intent is not
to criticize but mainly to help in my decision of how much (if any) I
should jump on this bandwagon and what I might be able to
contribute.  Secondly, there are many other programmers like me that are
asking the same questions right now (I know because I talk to them). I
believe the answers to these questions will either convert them or turn
them away.

My first question is, in the context of Bonobo, why C? I can imagine
that this question has been asked before (though I've never seen an
answer).  I am not a lanuage bigot (though somewhat of an Object
Oriented bigot) and I most certainly recognize the strengths of C.
However, when trying to implement a framework for building reusable
software components, based upon object interfaces, object activation,
et. al. one might ask why use a language that provides minimal support
(constructs) for object oriented programming.  I do not doubt that I or
any other decent programmer could implment an object design using the C
lanuage, but why? I'm not much of a fan of C++ but one can see the
advantages and programmer safety that even a quasi object oriented
lanuage would offer.   I had guessed it might be that GTK was implmented
in C and there was a strong knowledge/code base there, maybe a few C
bigots are to blame, maybe the C++ support in GCC wasn't trustworthy
enough. What's the real answer?

My other question: Where is the OO focus? I would LOVE to see *nix
programming be as wonderful as it can be on Windows. I am very happy to
see the growth and adoption of a Free (as in speech) component
framework.  But, where is the design going on?  I can't find class
diagrams (or any other representation, short of textual) of the
GTK+/Bonobo object model. I haven't been able to find much public
discussion about the growth/enhancement of the GTK+/Bonobo design (after
all it's claims of Object Orientedness).  So where is it all going?  To
get to a point where, for instance, the Java API's are, it requires
forethought: analysis, and design. Where is this design going on and who
is participating in it? If I have misunderstood Bonobo's goals please
dismiss this question.

I would love to become a major contributor to, and user of, the GTK+ and
Bonobo frameworks however, I nor my peers can really justify the
investment in an object model that most certainly has potential but is
arguably lacking in  "fundamentals".

Yours,
-ryan