Re: proposal: slight extension of gtkrc syntax for per-app settings

[Bill Haneman <Bill Haneman Sun COM>]

>
> Hi, 
>
> Nobody replied to original letter.
> Does anybody have anything to say about this? Why shouldn't gtk apps 
be as
>easy customizable as apps using Xt-based widgetsets?
>
> Will the patch be accepted that will implement proposed features?
>
> Best regards,
>  -Vlad

Hi Vlad:

Though the type of customization you suggest (if I understand you 
correctly) adds great flexibility, its widespread use could create very 
serious problems for the desktop.  It's generally considered important 
for UIs to maintain consistent styles across applications on the 
desktop, and you proposal would make it very easy to subvert this.

An important functional aspect of this (as opposed to cosmetic issues) 
is that a global theme which supported accessibility for low vision 
users (or color blind users, etc.) could easily be broken this way.  If 
styles and themes are not applied uniformly across the desktop then they 
cannot be fully effective.  To be blunt, your feature would probably 
break accessibility. 

This concern is just as valid in Xt, use of .rc files to override 
default styles is potentially very antagonistic to good user interface 
design and presentation of a consistent-looking, usable desktop.  In 
effect, giving applications (and app developers) more control over the 
style of the toolkit effectively takes control away from the user - it's 
a big tradeoff and not necessarily the right thing to do.


Best regards,

Bill

------
Bill Haneman x19279
Gnome Accessibility / Batik SVG Toolkit
Sun Microsystems Ireland