Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 16th Feb 2009 14:07 UTC
Late last week we ran a story on how the Google Chrome team had decided to use Gtk+ as the graphical toolkit for the Linux version of the Chrome web browser. It was a story that caused some serious debate on a variety of aspects, but in this short editorial, I want to focus on one aspect that came forward: the longing for consistency. Several people in the thread stated they were happy with Google's choice for purely selfish reasons: they use only Gtk+ applications on their GNOME desktops. Several people chimed in to say that Qt integrates nicely in a Gtk+ environment. While that may be true from a graphical point of view, that really isn't my problem with mixing toolkits. The issue goes a lot deeper than that.
Permalink for comment 349274
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:
2005-07-06
If you can make the appearance of a QT app match then most of the consistency issues you mention boil down to developer inclination. Let's assume a KDE developer went a little mad. The menu structure could be made to match Gnome's style and structure. If the mood struck you would it be difficult to match GTK apps behavior in QT?
In the end it does not matter to me. I am one of those who do not give a rat's butt about consistency. I honestly do not even notice differences in structure/choices anymore. Even the UI differences between KDE and Gnome apps seem no worse to me than the hodge podge of looks in OS X Tiger (which I do not mind either). Some apps more configurable, some less. Some are faster, others easier. Over time I just find what works and use it, regardless of toolkit.