6 ms·

Why would they? They have no shared code (as far as I know), and significantly different philosophies.

nerdponx 4y ago
I also would never want this. They are completely different products that appeal to different people. It's like asking if MacOS and Windows will ever merge. No, they won't, and they shouldn't (antitrust aside).
- criddell 4y ago
  They do appeal to different people, but I think the fat part of the curve is made up of people like me - they don’t care. Both work just fine. I can launch applications and manage my machine from it.
criddell 4y ago
To defrag the Linux demographic. If the two camps worked together on a future WM using all the things they’ve learned, maybe something great would come about. Having a single desktop for developers to target if they want to reach Linux users would be nice as well. It seems like if trends continue, Electron will be pretty much the only way new software gets on Linux and as a platform, Electron sucks compared to KDE or Gnome.
- LarryMullins 4y ago
  More likely a merger would ruin things for users of bot GNOME and KDE. > Having a single desktop for developers to target if they want to reach Linux users would be nice as well. This would be pointless, the vast majority of applications on linux don't care what DE they're run under. You can run Gnome applications under KDE, KDE applications under Gnome, just about any random GUI application under any window manager you wrote up last weekend which the developer of that application never even heard of. I don't understand what you're on about with Electron. Electron applications run under any DE or WM. Electron is a framework for creating GUI applications, it's not a desktop environment. They're orthogonal. I think you might be confusing KDE with Qt, Gnome with GTK, these things are not the same. An application that uses GTK is not a "Gnome application" unless it's affiliated with the Gnome project. An application using Qt is not a "KDE application" unless it's affiliated with KDE. Most GTK and Qt applications are independent, not affiliated with either KDE or Gnome. But even when they are affiliated with one or the other, you can still use them in the other.
  - criddell 4y ago
    I was sloppy when saying Gnome or KDE rather than GTK or Qt, but it sounds like you were able to see what I was trying to say. You can run GTK applications under KDE (and Qt under Gnome) iff you install the other runtime. When you do, you’re using twice as much disk space, more memory (due to less sharing), and now have twice as many DE-related vulnerabilities on your machine. IMHO, it’s not ideal. Electron is really a distinct platform. It requires an underlying DE but doesn’t really use it. It’s a third system and unfortunately it seems to be taking over Linux when it comes to new interesting applications. Both KDE and Gnome feel a little dead from the perspective of an end-user who wants to see cool new apps come out on native Linux. I don’t think desktop Linux is in a particularly good place right now. There’s so much untapped potential and I get a little frustrated to see Electron taking over.
    - dale_glass 4y ago
      > You can run GTK applications under KDE (and Qt under Gnome) iff you install the other runtime. When you do, you’re using twice as much disk space, more memory (due to less sharing), and now have twice as many DE-related vulnerabilities on your machine. IMHO, it’s not ideal. Who cares? That's an extremely nerd/purist sort of concern -- technically true, practically the vast majority of users won't care if it works well enough. Eg, right now I have KDE running, and on top of that there's Firefox, Steam, VS Code and Discord, none of which quite looks like KDE. All of those run on Windows, which creates exactly the same situation. Discord looks like Discord, not like a native Windows app.
      - LarryMullins 4y ago
        > none of which quite looks like KDE. Indeed, the biggest issue with using a mix of GUI frameworks is the inconsistent styling. But anybody who's used desktop Linux for long has either made peace with this, or endeavored to unify their styling. Either way, it's not a problem for the application developer to worry about.
        dale_glass 4y ago

I also would never want this. They are completely different products that appeal to different people. It's like asking if MacOS and Windows will ever merge. No, they won't, and they shouldn't (antitrust aside).

criddell 4y ago
They do appeal to different people, but I think the fat part of the curve is made up of people like me - they don’t care. Both work just fine. I can launch applications and manage my machine from it.

criddell 4y ago

To defrag the Linux demographic. If the two camps worked together on a future WM using all the things they’ve learned, maybe something great would come about. Having a single desktop for developers to target if they want to reach Linux users would be nice as well. It seems like if trends continue, Electron will be pretty much the only way new software gets on Linux and as a platform, Electron sucks compared to KDE or Gnome.

LarryMullins 4y ago
More likely a merger would ruin things for users of bot GNOME and KDE. > Having a single desktop for developers to target if they want to reach Linux users would be nice as well. This would be pointless, the vast majority of applications on linux don't care what DE they're run under. You can run Gnome applications under KDE, KDE applications under Gnome, just about any random GUI application under any window manager you wrote up last weekend which the developer of that application never even heard of. I don't understand what you're on about with Electron. Electron applications run under any DE or WM. Electron is a framework for creating GUI applications, it's not a desktop environment. They're orthogonal. I think you might be confusing KDE with Qt, Gnome with GTK, these things are not the same. An application that uses GTK is not a "Gnome application" unless it's affiliated with the Gnome project. An application using Qt is not a "KDE application" unless it's affiliated with KDE. Most GTK and Qt applications are independent, not affiliated with either KDE or Gnome. But even when they are affiliated with one or the other, you can still use them in the other.
- criddell 4y ago
  I was sloppy when saying Gnome or KDE rather than GTK or Qt, but it sounds like you were able to see what I was trying to say. You can run GTK applications under KDE (and Qt under Gnome) iff you install the other runtime. When you do, you’re using twice as much disk space, more memory (due to less sharing), and now have twice as many DE-related vulnerabilities on your machine. IMHO, it’s not ideal. Electron is really a distinct platform. It requires an underlying DE but doesn’t really use it. It’s a third system and unfortunately it seems to be taking over Linux when it comes to new interesting applications. Both KDE and Gnome feel a little dead from the perspective of an end-user who wants to see cool new apps come out on native Linux. I don’t think desktop Linux is in a particularly good place right now. There’s so much untapped potential and I get a little frustrated to see Electron taking over.
  - dale_glass 4y ago
    > You can run GTK applications under KDE (and Qt under Gnome) iff you install the other runtime. When you do, you’re using twice as much disk space, more memory (due to less sharing), and now have twice as many DE-related vulnerabilities on your machine. IMHO, it’s not ideal. Who cares? That's an extremely nerd/purist sort of concern -- technically true, practically the vast majority of users won't care if it works well enough. Eg, right now I have KDE running, and on top of that there's Firefox, Steam, VS Code and Discord, none of which quite looks like KDE. All of those run on Windows, which creates exactly the same situation. Discord looks like Discord, not like a native Windows app.
    - LarryMullins 4y ago
      > none of which quite looks like KDE. Indeed, the biggest issue with using a mix of GUI frameworks is the inconsistent styling. But anybody who's used desktop Linux for long has either made peace with this, or endeavored to unify their styling. Either way, it's not a problem for the application developer to worry about.
      - dale_glass 4y ago