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It's not an attractive scene for GUI developers on Linux. Gnome, Qt, and Electron all have some unappealing aspects. Many people who get the itch to make a Linu

by blt 3y ago

It's not an attractive scene for GUI developers on Linux. Gnome, Qt, and Electron all have some unappealing aspects. Many people who get the itch to make a Linux GUI app will immediately be discouraged by having to choose between them.

360MustangScope 3y ago
Imo, I think that Flutter is one of the best ways to make native Linux applications at the moment. It can look just like a GTK, macOS and Windows app and you have a more enjoyable experience.
- blt 3y ago
  Don't know it, but from the website it looks mobile-first and intended for simple apps like Spotify. Don't get the impression that I could build something like Blender or Kdenlive with it. Maybe my impression is wrong, but I would hesitate to use a framework for a purpose that the developers consider fringe.
  - ben-schaaf 3y ago
    To be fair you can't use any gui toolkit to make something like blender. It's all custom.
alwayslikethis 3y ago
What's wrong with Qt? It works well enough if you want to write C++ or Python. Electron works on Linux the same way it does on Windows. GTK has some more issues on other platforms, but mostly works on Linux too.
- blt 3y ago
  I should have said "Many people" instead of "Anyone" in my original comment -- edited. I would use it myself, but a lot of developers don't want to use C++ (too complicated) or Python (too slow, dynamicness becomes unwieldy for large projects). Languages in between - like Swift and C# - are the sweet spot for desktop GUI apps.
- nektro 3y ago
  > What's wrong with Qt? It works well enough if you want to write C++ or Python. answered your own question
sprash 3y ago
Have you tried WebUI? It's like a ultra minimalist version of electron. It uses available browsers instead of shipping its own. You simply write your App in html/js and everything that goes beyond (e.g. file access) is delegated to C with a simple callback mechanism.

by blt 3y ago

360MustangScope 3y ago

Imo, I think that Flutter is one of the best ways to make native Linux applications at the moment. It can look just like a GTK, macOS and Windows app and you have a more enjoyable experience.

blt 3y ago
Don't know it, but from the website it looks mobile-first and intended for simple apps like Spotify. Don't get the impression that I could build something like Blender or Kdenlive with it. Maybe my impression is wrong, but I would hesitate to use a framework for a purpose that the developers consider fringe.
- ben-schaaf 3y ago
  To be fair you can't use any gui toolkit to make something like blender. It's all custom.

alwayslikethis 3y ago

What's wrong with Qt? It works well enough if you want to write C++ or Python. Electron works on Linux the same way it does on Windows. GTK has some more issues on other platforms, but mostly works on Linux too.

blt 3y ago
I should have said "Many people" instead of "Anyone" in my original comment -- edited. I would use it myself, but a lot of developers don't want to use C++ (too complicated) or Python (too slow, dynamicness becomes unwieldy for large projects). Languages in between - like Swift and C# - are the sweet spot for desktop GUI apps.
nektro 3y ago
> What's wrong with Qt? It works well enough if you want to write C++ or Python. answered your own question

sprash 3y ago

Have you tried WebUI? It's like a ultra minimalist version of electron. It uses available browsers instead of shipping its own. You simply write your App in html/js and everything that goes beyond (e.g. file access) is delegated to C with a simple callback mechanism.