Re: scrollbar display options

["Timothy M. Shead" <tshead k-3d com>]

Ronald Bultje wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On 2001.04.27 19:26:35 +0200 Iain wrote:
>
>> On 27 Apr 2001 13:33:38 -0500, skip pobox com wrote:
>>
>>> I notice that there are no options controlling scrollbar display in the
>>
>> 2.0
>>
>>> api.  I think it would be useful to allow programmers (and users) to
>>
>> specify
>>
>>> how they want the three elements of the scrollbar. 
>>
>> Users - maybe/yes
>> Programmers - NO!
>>
>> If we leave it up to programmers then we have 5 applications doing it
>> one way, 3 doing it another, and one weirdo who loved the NEWS way and
>> wants all 6 of his apps doing it that way.

Sorry, but the "father knows best" approach is less than ideal - it
presumes that the designers of a library can forsee all its possible
uses and plan for them which, thanks to human ingenuity, is never true.
 I've noted many postings to this list regarding the size of
scrollbars, usually because the application is being used with alternate
input devices such as a touchscreen in a kiosk or a stylus device.  I
happen to be working on the user interface for wearable computers for
use outdoors, and I can tell you that getting people to understand that
the user interface can't just be a smaller version of a desktop
application is tough ... my point being that there *are* legitimate
reasons to generate user interfaces that have a non-standard appearance.
 I understand that the goal of preventing further fragmentation of the
appearance of the Linux desktop is a good one ... but by imposing
policies that prevent GTK+ from being used with anything other than a
mouse on a desktop, you only *increase* fragmentation when developers of
embedded and other specialized applications are driven to other toolkits.

Timothy M. Shead
http://www.k-3d.com