Re: GTK_MODULES removal and the future of existing modules

[Matthias Clasen <matthias clasen gmail com>]

On Sun, Feb 25, 2018 at 4:11 AM, Philipp Emanuel Weidmann <pew worldwidemann com> wrote:

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!

This may not be a popular opinion, but my view is that it is harmful to the eco system
overall if useful features are hidden away in 3rd party modules instead of being properly
integrated in the toolkit.

Has the example you mention ever been suggested as a feature addition to GTK+ ?
Was it rejected ? Or why was it implemented as a 3rd party module ?

Matthias