Re: [gtk-list] Re: GTK widget: Round dial

[George <jirka 5z com>]

> I guess most people agree that imlib is a good thing (but not for 1.0)
> but the worthyness of theme stuff is subject to debate.   Imlib adds pure
> functionality, but theme offers no real functions other than different looks.
> I remember the authors of Qt point out why they have only two looks.   Ignoring
> the license issues, I think Qt offers an example of what professional gui
> toolkits should be like.   Qt is fast partly because it avoids unnecessary
> stuff.  Qt's design is clean and benefits both developers and users.

I wouldn't say adding stuff which doesn't execute will make it slower ...

> I have to say Enlightment's value is highly controversial.  I mean no
> disrespect for you, Rasterman.  Your talents can be of great
> values, but please consider why the Mac and Windows have their particular
> looks.   Apple and Microsoft did not spend millions of dollars on HCI/usability
> studies for nothing.   And consider these Enlightment themes making Linux
> desktop looks like a game screen.  Adding themes to gtk may throw gtk off track
> adding bloats, slowing it down.   We need a lean and fast toolkit, not a fancy
> yet slow one. Pleaee think about this.  Thanks.   

as was stated, even I know a lot of people that WILL use toolkits that just
look wierd ... I don't see a problem with GTK making the user be able to
change looks on the fly ...

I would say most users will use the default look no matter what ... but I do
like to have a choice ... GUI is a visual thing .. and some people just 
prefer a different look then others ... 

I wouldn't wanna say ... this is the look that is good for everybody ...

it's true though that this is not a neccessary feature, and it would be
much nicer if we could have a working text box at this point I guess ...
but still don't see how an optional thing would spoil GTK ...

by the popularity of enlightenment I would say that having different
themes is quite popular among people ... so judging from that I'd say
hack would arise and it would split up the gtk development and make
installing some programs a mess in general, and would make the looks
even more inconsistent since some programs would be compiled with
different versions ... just a mess

I don't particularly see it as bloat either ... bloat means (at least to me):
"code is too big for the functionality" and "not being modular enough for
the amount of functionality involved" and "redundancy of code" ... I don't
think extra functionality adds bloat ... unless it's a quick hack that 
falls into one of the above ... you could probably call bloat "functionality
that noone uses, but still gets executed/loaded"

adding theme support then isn't bloat ... depends on how it's done ... I
would say a lot of people will use theme support .. so it's nto some obscure
feature that no-one will use ... but I doubt that any self respecting
distribution would put rusty bolts on their buttons by default, and the
default stuff is the stuff that is supposed to be "professional" ... the
stuff that the user adds can be whatever he pleases ...

adding theme support will not make GTK look unprofessional ... it will make
it appealing to a LOT of people ... especially people that buy computers
for fun ... not work ... and there's a whole lot of people that do that ..

George

-- 
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George Lebl <jirka@5z.com> http://www.5z.com/jirka/
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