4 ms·
Just a reminder that you're talking about an open source project, sustained entirely by volunteers. I'm sure they'd rather have people contributing, or speakin
by StevePerkins 9y ago
Just a reminder that you're talking about an open source project, sustained entirely by volunteers. I'm sure they'd rather have people contributing, or speaking through their financial donations > complaining that they don't have the resources to write native versions for every platform.
The bottom line is that cross-platform desktop development is HARD.
Qt and Wx eventually push you toward C++, which few people under the age of 40 want to learn. GTK looks awful on every platform.
JavaFX is actually quite nice now, and embedding a Java runtime takes up no more space than embedding Chrome. But you still have to deal with sluggish startup times, and similar complaints as C++... that Java isn't "cool" now, or whatever.
So if you want something that looks decent on Windows, OS X, and Linux, and is written in languages that 19-year olds approve of, then your options are:
1. Write separate native versions for each platform, using C# for Windows, Swift for OS X, and whatever for Linux, or
2. Electron.
If you're a commercial entity, selling products or services for money in the face of competition, then you should probably go with option #1. If you're an open source project or hobbyist, then just go with #2 and take solace in the fact that the people bitching were never going to contribute regardless.
- pjmlp 9y ago> C++, which few people under the age of 40 want to learn Thanks for making us aware that it is going to be easier to find jobs in High Performance Computing, Fintech, Games, OS and compiler development, machine learning, GPGPU computing, robotics, automotive industry, database engines, audio processing, medical devices, IoT,....
- StevePerkins 9y agoLearn COBOL or RPG, and the world will really be your oyster. Not criticizing C++ (I'm in my 40's and spent the first several years of my career working with it). Just stating the reality of what people whine about on web forums (when they're not whining that open source developers should do even more free work).
- pjmlp 9y agoThe thing with these youngsters, is than they eventually see that the old guys had some point. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14613142 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14613142
- type0 9y ago> JavaFX is actually quite nice now, and embedding a Java runtime takes up no more space than embedding Chrome. But you still have to deal with sluggish startup times, Startup time for JavaFX is just terrible even in comparison to Electron.
- pjmlp 9y agoOnly if you don't AOT compile to native code, which many on HN seem to keep forgetting about. There are plenty of options available among commercial JDK vendors, but if you don't want to spend money, ExcelsiorJet has free licenses for non-commercial use. https://www.excelsiorjet.com/free https://www.excelsiorjet.com/free