In my opinion GNUstep has to stop this it's just a development
environment thing and develop a desktop environment where GNUstep
applications do not look totaly out of place. GNUstep probably
can't compete with KDE or GNOME but why shouldn't it be possible to
compete with something like XFCE or Equinox or one of the other
smaller OSS desktop environments. I think GNUstep needs to be more
attractive to KDE / GNOME / MacOS X. In my opinion these are the
people most likely to use GNUstep and if GNUstep attracts more
users it will automatically get more developers.
Well, although I would not write that, I think it is about correct.
I got angry and almost livid when Gregory started pointing out that.
We are a development environment. And a good one. But we are not
"just that".
On the other hand, GNUstep is not a Desktop Environment (I like it
to call it a Workspace). It should never be. Other projects can fill
that gap building up on GNUstep. Not by a total change the GNUstep
Application Project shortens to "GAP".
As you compare GTK and GNOME or GTK and XCFEl, that is gnustep.
GNUstep is a bit more than just GTK, it has also the developer tools
and some reference applications like SystemPreferences and
GWorkspace, which are totally optional!
SO you can use GNUstep with Etoile and get complete Desktop
Environment.
On the other hand, GAP tries about the same. But since some
applications like the windowmanager exist (WindowMaker) it leverages
on them (also to retain easy compatibility with other X11 apps you
currently use a lot but will always, in a lesser degree, need to
use: be it a Browser, an Office Suite or just Skye).
GNUstep + Windowmaker + GAP
I do not exactly, other people can stand up, but the Backbone
project has about the same idea.
Of course each project has different philosphies, exaclty like XFce
is different from GNOME. It also means that you can run a standard
GNustep applicaiton inside Etoile.
Riccardo
If I could draw one conclusion on behalf of this thread, it is that
GNUstep would really benefit from a second, less radical, desktop
environment besides Etoile. A project that integrates GWorkspace,
WindowMaker, and GAP applications and says "We're a polished GNUstep-
based desktop!", and can be installed with a single package yielding a
desktop users can choose in their login screen.
I tried setting up such an environment myself on an Ubuntu 9.10 beta
VM image last week, installing GWorkspace, WindowMaker, and a handful
of GNUstep applications.
The problem was that I had to set up the environment myself.
WindowMaker was installed as a desktop choice, but I had to manually
start GWorkspace. By default, (I believe Zhang Weiwu also mentioned
this a few months ago) you get two docks - one from WindowMaker and
one from GWorkspace. I couldn't find a way of launching applications
other than using the "Run" command in GWorkspace.
I am focused on Etoile, but would still love to see someone start this
kind of project, whether it involves continuing Backbone, expanding
GAP in to a desktop, or choosing a new project name. In any case, I
think it would be healthy for the whole GNUstep community.
Cheers,
Eric
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