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Re: [LUG] InstantText for Linux...

 

Michael Mortimore wrote:
> well a kde or gtk solution would surely be limited to kde or gtk
> programs?

Gtk underlies Gnome, Qt underlies KDE but installing Gtk on KDE is
trivial, installing Qt in Gnome is a bit larger but just as simple. Gtk
and Qt applications can run in Gnome or KDE - only the base libraries
need to be installed.

Once installed, it's only a case of making the output available to other
applications, independent of how they are built. You've got direct shell
type data exchange, or things like RPC to do that.

The same applies with other window managers etc. It's different if you
want to build your code into kdepim or evolution or nautilus but a
stand-alone application or utility that uses just Gtk will sit happily
in any GNU/Linux installation. Qt still has a reputation for being
heavier than Gtk - something to do with the way KDE is organised makes
the Qt base libraries larger than the equivalent GTk libraries. Size
just adds complexity, especially in C++ where inheritance hierarchies
can become horribly tangled (IMHO).

> 
> I'll look into writing one myself but i suspect it's a bit ambitious.

Nah. Your choice of Qt or Gtk comes down to one simple question:

Which do you prefer? C or C++?

If you're happy in C, use Gtk.

If you can only think in C++, use Qt.

Don't forget other methods - you could use the Mozilla libraries, or
move to Java, perhaps Mono and C# are suitable, the list goes on. In
each case, installing the application on any GNU/Linux installation is
merely a case of installing some base libraries.

There are other choices too - Perl, Python, Ruby, any number of other
scripting toolkits have GUI as well as CLI front ends - if your utility
is useful, someone may write the bindings for you. Plus there's X but I
don't think anyone recommends building a pure X application outside xorg
anymore.

-- 

Neil Williams
=============
http://www.data-freedom.org/
http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/
http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/


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