The flexibility of printed information

[Jamiil <jalqadir netscape net>]

Ever since I started tinkering around the GTK+ and later on Gtkmm 
toolkits, I've noticed a steady flow of programmers talking more and 
more, and more passionately, about these toolkits.

It came as a blessing when "Sams Teach Yourself GTK+ Programming in 21 
Days" was put on the bookstores' shelves in the year 2000. I remember 
having to line up at the teller and noticing that two out of five people 
had this book in their baskets or under their arms. That was my queue to 
get on my newly installed Linux box and start typing GTK+ code, sooner 
than later, I said to myself, this toolkit will become a bread maker. 
Six years have gone by and there are very few programmers who don't know 
what GTK+ is, and they are now making bread with it (that is. are making 
money with it, in case you don't get my meaning).
I have found many GUI applications written in the C++ paradigm, but 
using GTK+ code, which we fondly called "GTK++ code". The reason these 
programmers are doing this is because it is easy to learn from a book, 
since it can be taken to an unoccupied boardroom or a coffee shop. I 
have found myself reading for hours in front of the computer, neglecting 
my own biological needs because I cannot take the PC to attend to them, 
or in buses or airplanes wishing I was able to just pull a book and 
continue reading more about Gtkmm. The flexibility that printed 
information provides is undoubtedly unmatchable.

The documentation of Gtkmm is substantial and reach with examples, 
however, for some programmers, like myself, who find the eloquence of a 
book as important as the dry and tacit information it tries to convey, 
as well the ability to carry that information to a more convenient very 
important, a book on Gtkmm would come as true blessing.

Gtkmm is no longer a baby child of GTK+, it has become a young adult 
deserving of recognition and a status of independence. A book on Gtkmm 
*must be written, there is no other option, and this must be done before 
new programmers start to drift away, to a less powerful, but more 
flexibly documented toolkit.

--
* No puedes ejercer tu fuerza hasta el punto de humillar a otros.
                     - Jean Chretien

* No tienes la libertad de desobedecer a Dios, aun mas si desobedeces a tu Señor no puedes llamarte Su servidor, pues te has convertido en un servidor de Satanás y de tus caprichos y vanos deseos.
                   -Sheykg Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen

* Es increíble como la diminuta semilla de desconfianza y malentendido puede producir una bonanza de odio y muerte.
                 - Jorge Escalante


Ma'assalama! Adiós!  bye!