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Comment by CyberDildonics

3 years ago

Qt, FLTK, WxWidgets

And it doesn't need to use a local web server either.

Shipping an entire browser so someone can pop up a single window is not a positive. Again, if you want html as your interface, use html and let people use their own browser so that the entire program is 400KB instead of 400 MB

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CyberDildonics

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tracker1  3 years ago

Qt, open-source only or expensive licensing. C++ only bindings... wouldn't call it "easy to use"

FLTK, no accessibility features

WxWidgets, really limited theming, not even close to html+css. Cross platform compatibility is hit and miss, usually requiring a lot of one-off platform corrections.

Also, as I said, you don't need to ship the entire browser... not once, but twice... try reading slower.

  • CyberDildonics  3 years ago

    Qt, open-source only or expensive licensing

    It's LGPL, lots of programs use it like qTorrent, VLC and much more. You can make up criticisms but it has been a backbone of GUIs for decades.

    FLTK, no accessibility features

    What exactly do you need and do you need it for every GUI you make? If you want a web page, use a web page.

    WxWidgets, really limited theming,

    Suddenly theming is your deal breaker.

    not even close to html+css

    Thankfully, because that is often not a good way to make a GUI.

    as I said, you don't need to ship the entire browser...

    No, you said "it doesn't need to use a local web server either." Also 'entire web browser or not' electron programs end up being hundreds of megabytes for a simple window use hundreds of megabytes of RAM.

    The bottom line here is not that electron is necessary. It is that you want to use javascript even though your users will hate it.

    • mwcampbell  3 years ago

      > What exactly do you need and do you need it for every GUI you make?

      A GUI toolkit that has no support for screen readers, or other assistive technologies that require accessibility APIs, should be a non-starter for most applications IMO. We need more options that meet that criterion without going all the way to a web page.

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