re: QT vs GTK 2006

[andrew openldev org]

> 1. Is the win32 version of GTK really that unstable? It's homepage still
> (as of today) contain a rather scary warning sign.

It all depends on what you're trying to do. If it is a very involved application,
you may run into some basic problems. The worst part is getting it installed, but
that has become easy in recent days. Just make sure to package a compiled
version of Gtk+ with your application as well.

> 2. Name some successful (in terms of many users, well-known) GTK-based
> projects outside of the GNOME sphere? For instance QT has Opera and Adobe
> Elements, in heavy use, outside of KDE.

Gaim has a big following. Firefox & Thunderbird use Gtk+ on Linux. I also believe
you can use Gimp on Windows using Gtk+ as well.

> 3. I guess there is a whole lot of people on list this that are using
> multiple toolkits, but for those who prefer GTK over other toolkits: What
> are your personal motivations for using GTK instead of something else?

I tried Qt, but found it to be very clunky (my opinion of course). Gtk+ is very
straight forward and to the point. Its functions are highly descriptive, so
anyone looking at the code can figure out what is going on without much
effort. Its consistency also makes remembering its wide array of functions
a breeze.

Also, with Gtk+ come GLib, which is a tool that I find indespensible because
it brings so much funtionality to the table without the need to program a ton
of lines of code.

> 4. There have been a lot of talk about OpenGL, composition engines and
> that kind of stuff lately. Is there are key difference between QT and GTK
> that's relevant in this context? I mean, is any of these toolkits better
> positioned to adopt to these changes (both upcoming 3D widgets and taking
> advantage of hardware caps to boost 2D performance) or is this more of an
> X issue rather than a toolkit issue?

That's not really an issue I know much about ... sorry.

> 5. If you where to start a cross-platform project today, with no prior
> knowledge of any toolkits or languages. In order to maximize code
> readability, programmer productivity and all that good stuff; what would
> you choose? QT or GTK or maybe Java or .NET?

This would actually come down to two choices. I wouldn't use Qt because
of licensing issues and other issues stated above. Java is extremely slow,
so that wouldn't be an option for me.  Gtk+ is obviously viable and would be
my first choice. But, I would also recommend you looking into Mono. While I
haven't ever used it myself, I have heard many good things about it.

> 6. Does GTK support per-application skins/themes?

That all depends on what you mean by skins/themes. If you want to do
something where you hide the taskbar & then use GtkImage(s) to create
the gui, then yes. If you want to change the theme a particular application
is using, then I believe it can be done, but it is not encouraged.

I have heard multiple places that the functions to do this were not included
in Gtk+ because they want to application developers to respect the theme
preferences of the user. With that said, of course there is a way; it just may
not be easy.

I hope this helps you!

---
Andrew Krause
andrew openldev org
www.openldev.org