Re: gtkhtml2 vs. gtkhtml1

[Malcolm Tredinnick <malcolm commsecure com au>]

On Tue, Sep 17, 2002 at 04:30:14PM +0200, Ali Akcaagac wrote:
> 
> On Tue, 2002-09-17 at 16:08, Sander Vesik wrote:
> > gtkhtml2 is part of the gnome2 desktop, not platform (the same also 
> > applies to libwnck, libeel and some others) and there are no API or ABI
> > guarantees about these. 
> 
> sorry, this must have missed me something. in this case it is necessary
> to write a big SIGN within a d.g.o page where you write:
> 
> "for your future applications please don't use above mentioned
> libraries, since we can't guarantee future development."

That is rubbish. You will always be able to write applications that
depend upon gtkhtml2 as it exists today. So applications that are
currently depending upon this (non-core) package are not going to
suddenly stop working. Of course, it's not going to block a GNOME
release if bugs in gtkhtml2 stop being fixed, since it's "just another
library" -- but that has been the case forever in GNOME 2 terms.

Similarly, if this thread results in gtkhtml2 getting the nod over
gtkhtml1, I would not be stunned if Ximian continue to work on gtkhtml1
for the purposes of Evolution's initial port to GNOME 2. From time to
time, a library must be maintained by those who use it -- without
expectations of help from others.

> > I guess we can consider Michael to be slightly biased when it comes to the
> > importance of Evolution 8-) 

[I hope that smiley is genuine, Sander, otherwise that's a very low
blow.]

> this was not meant to criticise evolution or something. but then
> evolution should not use above named libraries because you can't
> guarantee for the API and ABI. i was more up to the point where i don't
> see how you can make big changes of what is there because of one app.

There is currently one core application that uses gtkhtml2 -- Yelp. And
for months now, Yelp has been usable with either version of gtkhtml (1
or 2). Mikael has done fantastic work to get around the problem that
although gtkhtml2 is theoretically superior, it is not being actively
maintained. People truly have the best of both worlds. Evolution is
another fairly important GNOME application, so it's not too surprising
that we might plot the future with that in mind.

The discussion here is about what to include in the core platform
dependency list -- not about what every third-party application wants,
since as explained above, they are not going to be suddenly deprived
with respect to the current situation.

Malcolm