6 ms·
> what makes GTK a better goto choice in respect to other frameworks (QT, FOX, FLTK). I do not have an answer but I would like to show a different angle to thi
by gioele 12y ago
> what makes GTK a better goto choice in respect to other frameworks (QT, FOX, FLTK).
I do not have an answer but I would like to show a different angle to this question: why do Qt applications often feel overly complex and GTK applications are usually much simpler to use?
Concrete examples:
* Transmission ( https://www.transmissionbt.com/images/screenshots/GTK-Large.jpg https://www.transmissionbt.com/images/screenshots/GTK-Large.... ) vs. KTorrent ( https://www.kde.org/images/screenshots/ktorrent.png https://www.kde.org/images/screenshots/ktorrent.png )
* Rhythmbox ( https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Rhythmbox/Screenshots?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=Audio_CD_Tab.png https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Rhythmbox/Screenshots?action=Att... ) vs. Amarok ( https://amarok.kde.org/sites/amarok.kde.org/files/Amarok2.7screenie.png https://amarok.kde.org/sites/amarok.kde.org/files/Amarok2.7s... )
* Simple Scan ( http://i1-linux.softpedia-static.com/screenshots/Simple-Scan-Ancell_1.png http://i1-linux.softpedia-static.com/screenshots/Simple-Scan... ) vs. Skanlite ( https://docs.kde.org/development/en/extragear-graphics/skanlite/main-window.png https://docs.kde.org/development/en/extragear-graphics/skanl... )
* GNOME Maps ( http://www.gnome.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/maps-3.12-1150x863.png http://www.gnome.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/maps-3.12-11... ) vs. Marble ( https://marble.kde.org/img/gallery/marble-desktop-atlas-distance-route.png https://marble.kde.org/img/gallery/marble-desktop-atlas-dist... )
* Brasero ( http://www.novell.com/documentation/opensuse103/opensuse103_gnome_user/graphics/brasero_dataproject.png http://www.novell.com/documentation/opensuse103/opensuse103_... ) vs. K3b ( http://digitizor.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/k3b-1-70-0.png http://digitizor.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/k3b-1-70-0.p... )
* Shotwell ( http://ubuntuportal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ubuntu-14.10-Shotwell-Picture-Manager.jpg http://ubuntuportal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ubuntu-14... ) vs. Digikam ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/digikam/2603789332/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/digikam/2603789332/ )
Please also compare the default theme for Gnome ( http://blogs.gnome.org/mclasen/files/2014/06/adwaita.png http://blogs.gnome.org/mclasen/files/2014/06/adwaita.png ) with that of KDE ( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Plasma_Desktop_4.4.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Plasma_De... ).
I appreciate the configurability and power of most KDE applications, but I cannot stand the lack of design and ergonomics that pervades the KDE world.
- jstanek 12y agoIn your examples, you are comparing KDE apps with GNOME apps. Though the KDE ones are all Qt and the GNOME ones are all GTK, it's not really a fair comparison since GNOME and KDE have different design objectives (KDE strives to be more feature-complete and configurable while GNOME wants to be simple to use and have a clean UI). The design choices in your comparison aren't dictated by the toolkit, but rather the HIG of each desktop. There are a lot of clean and simple Qt apps, like the official implementation of Tox [0]. [0] https://tox.im/assets/ss.png https://tox.im/assets/ss.png
- gioele 12y agoYou are right, but almost all the GTK applications I know are designed by and for people that use GNOME. The same holds for Qt/KDE. Could you please post other clean Qt applications? This is not a provocation, just sincere curiosity.
- Shamanmuni 12y agoVLC, Scrivener, Skype, Spotify for Linux; I think they all qualify as quite usable applications. On the other hand, in GTK you have GIMP and Inkscape, which aren't exactly an UX expert's dream. In Qt you can find similar counterparts in Krita (specially Krita Sketch) and Karbon, which I think are much cleaner. I hope they help with your preconceptions.
- mpyne 12y agoEven in KDE, the JuK media player/tagger (which is actually the semi-official app) is much closer in appearance to Rhythmbox than Amarok. https://www.kde.org/applications/multimedia/juk/ https://www.kde.org/applications/multimedia/juk/ On the other hand I've not been having a lot of success maintaining JuK recently, but there's better-maintained apps like Tomahawk http://www.tomahawk-player.org/ http://www.tomahawk-player.org/ and Cantata (https://code.google.com/p/cantata/ https://code.google.com/p/cantata/, screenshots at http://i1-linux.softpedia-static.com/screenshots/Cantata_2.png http://i1-linux.softpedia-static.com/screenshots/Cantata_2.p...)
- hysan 12y ago