Re: Sudden Tango changes in trunk

[Kristian Rietveld <kris gtk org>]

On Wed, Mar 28, 2007 at 12:49:44PM +0200, Jakub Steiner wrote:
> To be honest I don't want to bother with all this work to provide an
> 'alternative' icon theme. The unique gnome 2.0 style make gtk apps on
> platforms such as MS Windows or Mac OS X totally out of place. I'm quite
> sad to see you hold on to that.

Yes, I do agree that GTK+ applications look out of place on other
platforms, especially so when you are not using a theme engine
resembling the native look of the platform.  Though even with a native
theme engine GTK+ applications will still be GTK+ applications with
regards to behavior, etc.

The concern which I want to raise, and which I already did in my
previous mail, is the following: "Does updating icons account as a
break of backward compatibility?".  Running a GTK+ application which
has some custom drawn icons with the new stock icons, might make those
custom icons look out of place.  A GTK+ application which is putting a custom
drawn "overlay" on a new stock icon might look out of place.  And, for
example Gossip, is using the gtk-justify-left icon as an icon for the
"View Previous Conversations" menu item -- this might also break with a
new stock icon which is using a different metaphor to communicate the
intention of the item to the user.  Or is using a stock item for a
different action as intended seen as a misuse of the API?  I am sure
Gossip is not the only application doing this.

I am all for making GTK+ applications fit better in other
platforms, I am just questioning the impact on the backward
compatibility.  If people think this is not causing any breakage, then I
see no reason to hold this from happening.


regards,

-kris.