Re: qt vs gtk

[Michael Torrie <torriem gmail com>]

Andersen, Jan wrote:
> 1. X used to display a small "label" containing the position and size
> of a window when you moved it. That was one feature I found hugely
> useful; I usually have 9 desktops and organise my applications with
> fixed dimensions and positions different desktops - like Pidgin on
> desk 1, thunderbird and firefox on desk 2, a number of xterms on desk
> 3 etc, all started from scripts with positions and dimensions that I
> have taken from the little "dimension label". I can't do that in
> GNOME and find the right position and dimension takes a large amount
> of trial and error. Not a huge thing, really, but why take it away?
>
> 2. All of a sudden, in the latest version of GNOME, you get a silly
> warning about not logging on as root. Now one may dispute the wisdom
> of working that way, but that is the way I work. I have considered
> the implications and secured things in other ways, let's put it like
> that; at the end of the day this is MY MACHINE and there MY DECISION
> to make. One of the basic tenets in good software is that you don't
> impose policy of any kind on your users. You provide options, you may
> provide a selection of preset parameters that suggest a sensible
> policy, but at the end of the day it is up to the owner of the
> system. That is the way KDE does it - by default root is not allowed
> to log on to the desktop, but there is a parameter. In GNOME I found
> that it is hardcoded into gnome-session. I mean, show some respect
> for your customers - we have already proven that we are intelligent
> and thinking individuals by chosing Linux over Windows, haven't we?

These are interesting as they illustrate that to a user, Gnome is the
experience.  Of course we know that in reality, things like positioning
of the windows as they move and resize have absolutely nothing to do
with Gnome.  But perception is reality as they say.

As for item 2, my biggest gripe with Gnome is that some distros use
gtksu and others use a "sudo" like approach that mirrors OS X (ubuntu)
for doing things that require root.  Of course all of this is going away
soon now that PolicyKit is hitting mainstream.  This means root access
simply isn't needed anymore for almost all desktop-originated actions.

Now of course this is all off-topic since we're talking about "qt vs
gtk" not gnome or even KDE.