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And this is why, my friends, we don't have a Linux desktop. At some point, we need get some stability and backwards compatibility in our GUI toolkits. Otherwise

And this is why, my friends, we don't have a Linux desktop. At some point, we need get some stability and backwards compatibility in our GUI toolkits. Otherwise, we see this problem over and over again - GUI API updates break application developers, and those developers have to put time and effort into restoring functionality rather than adding new features or improving usability. Windows will happily run 10 year old GUI code. OSX will still run 7 year old GUI code. But Linux? Depending on the which window manager you're using, even 2-3 year old code can be horribly broken by API updates. As a developer, this is one of the chief reasons I'm considering abandoning Linux and moving to OSX. It's just too bothersome to deal with the ever-increasing flux in Linux GUI libraries.

raverbashing 14y ago
This. So much this And see this, XCB has been around at least since 2006 (when I first heard about it) The X model was good, but now it's a hinderance. A really big one. Give the developers a smart framebuffer (I'm not sure linux fb has any hw acceleration features, but IIRC it doesn't) or just give a "Pure" OpenGL API to the developers. And build from that Oh and by the way, try OSX, it's weird at first but I haven't looked back.
- asdfs 14y ago
  >Give the developers a smart framebuffer (I'm not sure linux fb has any hw acceleration features, but IIRC it doesn't) or just give a "Pure" OpenGL API to the developers. And build from that That simplicity is more or less the philosophy behind Wayland. You get a buffer to draw into with OpenGL, some extra stuff for interoperability between programs (drag and drop, window decoration) and that's more or less it.
SeanDav 14y ago
I thought Ubuntu was the one distro that was moving towards a consistent desktop. I think somehow that consistency in the unix/linux world is an anathema, with a good old whack of NIH syndrome.
- Zak 14y ago
  Ubuntu created a new shell on top of Gnome 3. I'm not sure how that makes for more consistency. Unity is not widely adopted outside of Ubuntu and Gnome 3 is so unpopular that there are two projects to keep Gnome 2 around; Mate, a fork of Gnome 2 and Cinnamon, a layer on top of Gnome 3 that has a UI similar to Gnome 2.
legulere 14y ago
I just installed and launched xmms which uses gtk 1. Gtk 2 was released 2002, ten years ago. There are many problems with compatability, but sometimes it's overstated.
stevenlstarr 14y ago
Give this man a dollar he hit the nail on the head.

raverbashing 14y ago

This. So much this And see this, XCB has been around at least since 2006 (when I first heard about it) The X model was good, but now it's a hinderance. A really big one. Give the developers a smart framebuffer (I'm not sure linux fb has any hw acceleration features, but IIRC it doesn't) or just give a "Pure" OpenGL API to the developers. And build from that Oh and by the way, try OSX, it's weird at first but I haven't looked back.

asdfs 14y ago
>Give the developers a smart framebuffer (I'm not sure linux fb has any hw acceleration features, but IIRC it doesn't) or just give a "Pure" OpenGL API to the developers. And build from that That simplicity is more or less the philosophy behind Wayland. You get a buffer to draw into with OpenGL, some extra stuff for interoperability between programs (drag and drop, window decoration) and that's more or less it.

SeanDav 14y ago

I thought Ubuntu was the one distro that was moving towards a consistent desktop. I think somehow that consistency in the unix/linux world is an anathema, with a good old whack of NIH syndrome.

Zak 14y ago
Ubuntu created a new shell on top of Gnome 3. I'm not sure how that makes for more consistency. Unity is not widely adopted outside of Ubuntu and Gnome 3 is so unpopular that there are two projects to keep Gnome 2 around; Mate, a fork of Gnome 2 and Cinnamon, a layer on top of Gnome 3 that has a UI similar to Gnome 2.

legulere 14y ago

I just installed and launched xmms which uses gtk 1. Gtk 2 was released 2002, ten years ago. There are many problems with compatability, but sometimes it's overstated.

stevenlstarr 14y ago

Give this man a dollar he hit the nail on the head.