GTK_MODULES removal and the future of existing modules

[Philipp Emanuel Weidmann <pew worldwidemann com>]

Greetings,

I am the author of Plotinus[1], a GTK+ module that provides a
searchable command palette to GTK+ applications. Recently, it was
brought to my attention[2] that module loading has been removed[3] on
GTK+ master.

It appears that this change could mean the end for Plotinus and other
modules like it. I would be interested to learn:

1. What is the rationale behind the removal of module loading?

2. What will be the first stable release of GTK+ that does not support
   modules anymore? Is this GTK+ 4.0+ only, or will support also be
   dropped in a 3.0 series release?

3. What, if any, alternatives are available/planned for software
   like Plotinus that needs to inspect the widget hierarchy of running
   applications in order to work?

Any insight is appreciated!

Warm regards
Philipp


[1]: https://github.com/p-e-w/plotinus
[2]: https://github.com/p-e-w/plotinus/issues/35
[3]: https://github.com/GNOME/gtk/commit/39d1537211501a8603f93a3196b910
dce40e1617