On 01/14/2015 09:46 AM, Rory O'Farrell wrote: > On Wed, 14 Jan 2015 09:27:53 -0800 "Dennis E. Hamilton" > <dennis.hamil...@acm.org> wrote: > >> Maintaining the independently-developed VCL GUI framework is an >> important concern. (Then there's UNO as a cross-platform COM >> derivative.) >> >> The problem with much of the complexity of AOO, it seems to me, is >> that it is difficult to find improvements that can be achieved with >> progressions of small changes that have every- think still working >> each step of the way. Combined with the level of expertise required >> to know what changes are safe and consistent with the architecture >> of AOO, there is a big challenge for identifying any major moves. >> >> It would be great to know what insights there are for cultivating >> and sustaining the necessary expertise and maybe simplifying the >> learning curve and entrance requirements. Maybe just keep doing >> more of what is already being done in this area? >> > > Changing a GUI framework as discussed here is a major task - fraught > with difficulty and hidden "gotchas". It would be better to put the > effort going into two areas: bug-fixing - there are many little bugs > to be fixed; secondly, improvement in the functionality. Here is not > the place to start a debate on what needs to be changed/improved, but > we should bear in mind that "bells and whistles" always attract > users. If we let competitive products outdistance us, we lose our > share of the userbase.
Thanks for all the comments so far. Further thoughts -- * Given licensing conditions of Qt, I was hoping it could be handled as our other category-b licenses. This would depend on what libraries are used of course. * Yes, a daunting task which is why it hasn't already been done. * I was initially thinking that a migration like this would: -- free up developer time to concentrate on other aspects of AOO -- relieve developers from continual maintenance in graphical environments -- position AOO better for use on non-desktop platforms Rory's comments -- " Here is not > the place to start a debate on what needs to be changed/improved, but > we should bear in mind that "bells and whistles" always attract > users. Ongoing maintenance and new developer knowledge are more a factor to me than "bells and whistles", really. "If we let competitive products outdistance us, we lose our > share of the userbase" No argument there. > > >> >> -- replying below to -- >>> From: Kay Schenk [mailto:kay.sch...@gmail.com] >> Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 15:46 To: OOo Apache Subject: >> [DISCUSS] Qt as a replacement for VCL >> >> Something I started thinking about and ta da...it's been proposed >> before -- >> >> http://markmail.org/message/gjvwudqnzejlzynz >> >> In my mind, we could use some assistance in the maintenance of the >> toolkit for our UI instead of continuing to do it ourselves. This >> said, I know next to nothing about QT and from what I've seen, the >> licensing is pretty complicated and might not work for the ASF -- >> >> http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/licensing.html#licenses-used-in-qt >> >> <orcmid> I finally noticed and followed the markmail link above. >> Of course, in January 2009, all of OpenOffice.org was under LGPL >> and the license was not a concern for the open-source side of >> things. The private commercial licensing of OO.o by Sun (e.g., to >> IBM) would have been a concern. The dependency on what continued to >> be a pretty closely-held project might have been a concern even >> then. If The Document Foundation had decided this was a good idea, >> the prospect of an ecumenical accommodation with LibreOffice would >> be even stranger today than it already is [;<). </orcmid> >> >> Main web site -- http://qt-project.org/ >> >> Thoughts? >> >> -- >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> MzK >> >> "There's a bit of magic in everything, and some loss to even things >> out." -- Lou Reed >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org >> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org >> >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org >> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org >> >> > > -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- MzK "There's a bit of magic in everything, and some loss to even things out." -- Lou Reed --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org
