Posted by
michael
on from the now-better-splash-screens dept.
d3vi1 writes "Pango, Glib & GTK 2.4.0 have been released to the public. See gtk.org in general, or specifically: the announcements for pango, glib and gtk."
As soon as I figure what this things does....
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 4, Funny
...I'll be really happy that it's finally released.
Re:As soon as I figure what this things does....
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Informative
FTFA:
GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. Offering a complete set of widgets, GTK+ is suitable for projects ranging from small one-off projects to complete application suites.
GTK+ is free software and part of the GNU Project. However, the licensing terms for GTK+, the GNU LGPL, allow it to be used by all developers, including those developing proprietary software, without any license fees or royalties.
GTK+ is based on three libraries developed by the GTK+ team:
GLib is the low-level core library that forms the basis of GTK+ and GNOME. It provides data structure handling for C, portability wrappers, and interfaces for such runtime functionality as an event loop, threads, dynamic loading, and an object system.
Pango is a library for layout and rendering of text, with an emphasis on internationalization. It forms the core of text and font handling for GTK+-2.0.
The ATK library provides a set of interfaces for accessibility. By supporting the ATK interfaces, an application or toolkit can be used with such tools as screen readers, magnifiers, and alternative input devices.
GTK+ has been designed from the ground up to support a range of languages, not only C/C++. Using GTK+ from languages such as Perl and Python (especially in combination with the Glade GUI builder) provides an effective method of rapid application development.
This release should clear the most litigious point against GTK+ : the file dialog.
Recent screenshots on gnomedesktop.org seem to prove they did the job right.
However, anyone knows if the WIN32 is far behind or up to date with this release ?
-- Karma cannot be described by words alone.
Re:New File Dialog
by
niiler
·
· Score: 5, Informative
The problem is that if you want users to only be able to select a single package type, say *.tgz, you have to spin your own dialog. The current filtering is virtually non-existant. If you do try to use it, it can hide directories that don't have the correct extension.
From the release notice:
"The new GtkFileChooser widgets provide a radically simplified and improved way for users to select files. Application writers now are provided with such capabilities such as customizable filters and previews. The filesystem access is encapsulated as a dynamically loaded module; as an example of what this allows, libgnomeui now provides a gnome-vfs backend for GtkFileChooser so that it has the same view of remote filesystems as applications such Nautilus."
This is cool stuff as it will certainly improve the perception and use of GTK.
Re:New File Dialog
by
Lussarn
·
· Score: 4, Informative
If you press ctrl-l with the fileselector open you get a textentry box with tab-completion.
Re:New File Dialog
by
steveha
·
· Score: 4, Informative
This new dialog is not only much more confusing looking, but seems bloated
I disagree. It has many new features compared to the old dialog, and they are cleanly laid out. You have bookmarks now, to quickly go to a folder you use often; there is a preview available now; and there are many different ways to quickly get to the folder you want (e.g. you can go up two folders with one click; you can go to your home directory with one click; etc.)
rather ugly
Matter of taste. That screenshot is using a theme I don't personally like, but in a more soothing theme, the new dialogs look just fine.
and doesn't have the text entry box -- i.e, they removed the one great feature they used to have!
Calm down. The text-entry box is still there if you want it. If it's not showing, as in that screenshot, Ctrl+L will make it appear. If you are a keyboard fan, you shouldn't have much trouble hitting one extra keystroke.
For a Save dialog, you don't even have to hit Ctrl+L; it's only the Open dialog that defaults to mouse-only operation.
I know they're attempting to appeal to inexperienced users, but they always seem to (1) do so in a way that pisses off experienced users, and (2) botch things up in the inexperienced-user case anyway.
During the months of discussion and testing before this release, did you provide any feedback to help them? If not, then perhaps you might want to hold back a bit on the abuse directed towards the GTK developers.
Hopefully someone will come up with a less crappy file-selector and all the major distros (at least debian) will use it.
Hey, it's free software. Fire up your favorite image editor, and start mocking up how it should look. I'm sure OSNews would publish an article about your new design, and I'm sure that someone, somewhere in the world, would code up a prototype for you. Or you could even code it yourself!
As for me, I am content with the new dialog and I'm looking forward to its arrival in Debian Unstable.
steveha
-- lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
They have been using the new file selector in the Fedora Core 2 test1 release, which was supposed to freeze today for the test2 release. Very nice. Hopefully this means GNOME 2.6 will stabilize and be release in time to include them both in Fedora Core 2.
Re:KDE compatibility?
by
AuMatar
·
· Score: 5, Informative
As long as you have the KDE libraries installed, it doesn't matter what your desktop is.
--
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
says the n00b: "it's good to see that GTK is catching up with the kernel version."
says the 1337: "..."
-- Esoteric reference.
not so
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 4, Informative
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (via Gnome Dictionary, incendentally)
Litigious Li*ti"gious, a. L. litigiosus, fr. litigium dispute, quarrel, fr. litigare: cf. F. litigieux. See Litigation.... 2. Subject to contention; disputable; controvertible; debatable; doubtful; precarious.
I'd say that definition fits. Try using a dictionary next time, smartass.
GTK-- (aka Gtkmm) is the official set of C++ bindings for GTK. (GTK+ is the official set of C bindings._ There have been some other projects to produce C++ bindings for GTK, but AFAIK you would normally use GTK-- if you were using a C++ interface to GTK.
Is there some reason you want to avoid using gtk--?
Xft and fontconfig use the same backends - whats that mean to you? - better fonts - everything GTK now plays the same game.
Fonts and character shapes can take a scripts 'hints' about a font into account - we win, the font creator wins - its about the best of everyones world.
Using bi-directional text is not forced by the application - it can be extracted or 'hinted' from the original source file itself.
GLIB:
GLIB update to use unicode 4.0 - many, many people benefit.
GLIB correctly recovers children processes.
GRandom is better at seeding. But not cryptographically secure. Yet.
The threading library with GLIB is now "operation or not" on integers and pointers.
There is a way to specify an OO 'singleton' or 'once initialisation'
Extra macros for GObject type writers
Properties can be added to interfaces (verbatim copied)
Private data within an instance can contain private data/references within and object (its not clean what this means in a C context, but I think they mean that it's not exposed).
GTK takes all of the above features, and uses those to make a fantastic release.
Lets give these people time,
They need it.
Re:GTK release of 2.4
by
IamTheRealMike
·
· Score: 4, Informative
The threading library with GLIB is now "operation or not" on integers and pointers.
I think you mean the threading library now supports atomic operations - ie you can do some simple integer/pointer manipulation without needing a mutex in a thread safe fasion. They've introduced equivalents to InterlockedIncrement, InterlockedCompareExchange etc in Win32 and very useful they are too.
Re:Separate windows are fine
by
Abcd1234
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Okay, you don't get it. That's okay, why would you? After all, you clearly don't understand how X works...
Implementing MDI is highly *non-trivial*. It requires Gtk to implement a full windowing toolkit, along with everything that entails. So, what you're saying is that you want the developers to waste thousands of man-hours implementing something that is, in the end, broken by design? Yeah, brilliant idea.
Hey, I got an idea. Why don't *you* go and implement MDI in Gtk. Then, when you're done, fix up The GIMP to use it, and voila! You'll be the hero of those "thousands of users"! Have fun!
I don't see that a good thing necessarily. I've gone through the pain of compiling programs that had dozens of libraries needed because the author was too lazy to write a single function. Having all these libraries an arm reach away has made modern programmers lazy and less knowledgeable.
This is a tragic mis-statement. What it has done is extended the power of complex, standard behaviors and routines to other programmers, allowed for centralised bug fixing as well as system wide improvments and feature enhancements. Code reuse has allowed us to build complex software in short time periods to meet ever diminishing deadlines.
Even if the use of standard libraries made programmers 'lazy' and 'less knowledgeable' ( I can't believe I'm writing this ), how does this in any way negatively impact their output provided they have access to these amazing laze inducing libraries?
It almost makes me sad to read this post. My computing forebears slaved and suffered in a living hell of replicated work and wasted maintainance time - we have these tremendous advantages at our disposal, and they are characterised as some kind of enemy of programming moral fiber.
-- One god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
Re:Glade2
by
WombatControl
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Glade2 development has stopped, and there's a full rewrite of Glade going on. The Glade3 code is currently in CVS, and will feature badly-needed features like redo/undo.
My guess is that Glade3 will support the new GTK 2.4 widgets.
Re:C++ Interface?
by
Erwos
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Yes, you still do.
However, I really wouldn't raise my nose at GTKmm - it's actually VERY nicely done, and for someone who was raised on C++ and the STL (ie, most coders coming out of college now), it's much more intuitive than some other toolkits.
Trust me - GTKmm is no sacrifice at all.
-Erwos
-- Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
Re:Any commerical companies using these?
by
Too+Much+Noise
·
· Score: 5, Informative
not listed so far: Opera (QT) Adobe Photoshop Album (QT)
Slashdot Mirror
...I'll be really happy that it's finally released.
Until this makes it into the win32 version of the GIMP? Or will this make any difference?
...Gnome 2.6, due out March 22nd.
This release should clear the most litigious point against GTK+ : the file dialog.
Recent screenshots on gnomedesktop.org seem to prove they did the job right.
However, anyone knows if the WIN32 is far behind or up to date with this release ?
Karma cannot be described by words alone.
They have been using the new file selector in the Fedora Core 2 test1 release, which was supposed to freeze today for the test2 release. Very nice. Hopefully this means GNOME 2.6 will stabilize and be release in time to include them both in Fedora Core 2.
As long as you have the KDE libraries installed, it doesn't matter what your desktop is.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
says the n00b: "it's good to see that GTK is catching up with the kernel version."
says the 1337: "..."
Esoteric reference.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
...
(via Gnome Dictionary, incendentally)
Litigious Li*ti"gious, a. L. litigiosus, fr. litigium dispute, quarrel, fr. litigare: cf. F. litigieux. See Litigation.
2. Subject to contention; disputable; controvertible; debatable; doubtful; precarious.
I'd say that definition fits. Try using a dictionary next time, smartass.
GTK-- (aka Gtkmm) is the official set of C++ bindings for GTK. (GTK+ is the official set of C bindings._ There have been some other projects to produce C++ bindings for GTK, but AFAIK you would normally use GTK-- if you were using a C++ interface to GTK.
Is there some reason you want to avoid using gtk--?
May we never see th
All hail Lord Stallman; praise to St Ignucius.
Those "linux libraries" are not "linux" libraries, they are GNU libraries.
That's why they run on things that aren't linux.
Yours Sincerely, Michael.
Only these aren't Linux libraries, but GNU ones.
No matter how do you call the GNU/Linux OS, these libraries are under the GNU Project umbrella, they have little to do with Linus Torvalds.
Moreover since they've been adopted by the BSDs and Unices as well, and even run on CygWin, they could also be properly called POSIX-based libraries.
Leandro Guimarães Faria Corcete DUTRA
DA, DBA, SysAdmin, Data Modeller
GNU Project, Debian GNU/Lin
For anyone who has been following the good work that the gnome developers have been doing, its starting to look like vindication.
Ok, enough of the back slapping, lets see whats on offer: (PS - release notes for GTK at Gnome 2.6 update release notes
Font Changes:- Xft and fontconfig use the same backends - whats that mean to you? - better fonts - everything GTK now plays the same game.
- Fonts and character shapes can take a scripts 'hints' about a font into account - we win, the font creator wins - its about the best of everyones world.
- Using bi-directional text is not forced by the application - it can be extracted or 'hinted' from the original source file itself.
GLIB:- GLIB update to use unicode 4.0 - many, many people benefit.
- GLIB correctly recovers children processes.
- GRandom is better at seeding. But not cryptographically secure. Yet.
- The threading library with GLIB is now "operation or not" on integers and pointers.
- There is a way to specify an OO 'singleton' or 'once initialisation'
- Extra macros for GObject type writers
- Properties can be added to interfaces (verbatim copied)
- Private data within an instance can contain private data/references within and object (its not clean what this means in a C context, but I think they mean that it's not exposed).
GTK takes all of the above features, and uses those to make a fantastic release. Lets give these people time, They need it.Okay, you don't get it. That's okay, why would you? After all, you clearly don't understand how X works...
Implementing MDI is highly *non-trivial*. It requires Gtk to implement a full windowing toolkit, along with everything that entails. So, what you're saying is that you want the developers to waste thousands of man-hours implementing something that is, in the end, broken by design? Yeah, brilliant idea.
Hey, I got an idea. Why don't *you* go and implement MDI in Gtk. Then, when you're done, fix up The GIMP to use it, and voila! You'll be the hero of those "thousands of users"! Have fun!
This is a tragic mis-statement. What it has done is extended the power of complex, standard behaviors and routines to other programmers, allowed for centralised bug fixing as well as system wide improvments and feature enhancements. Code reuse has allowed us to build complex software in short time periods to meet ever diminishing deadlines.
Even if the use of standard libraries made programmers 'lazy' and 'less knowledgeable' ( I can't believe I'm writing this ), how does this in any way negatively impact their output provided they have access to these amazing laze inducing libraries?
It almost makes me sad to read this post. My computing forebears slaved and suffered in a living hell of replicated work and wasted maintainance time - we have these tremendous advantages at our disposal, and they are characterised as some kind of enemy of programming moral fiber.
One god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
Glade2 development has stopped, and there's a full rewrite of Glade going on. The Glade3 code is currently in CVS, and will feature badly-needed features like redo/undo.
My guess is that Glade3 will support the new GTK 2.4 widgets.
Yes, you still do.
However, I really wouldn't raise my nose at GTKmm - it's actually VERY nicely done, and for someone who was raised on C++ and the STL (ie, most coders coming out of college now), it's much more intuitive than some other toolkits.
Trust me - GTKmm is no sacrifice at all.
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
not listed so far:
Opera (QT)
Adobe Photoshop Album (QT)