Re:Why I'm Done Making Desktop Applications
by MrDrMcCoy on Friday April 24, 2026 @05:28PM
(#47896020)
Please, for the love of all that is holy, not GTK.
Re:Why I'm Done Making Desktop Applications
by mohamedkoubaa on Friday April 24, 2026 @08:55PM
(#47897623)
Platforms and app engines are orthogonal concerns. I agree that platform guidelines are worth preserving, and the web as a platform solves it by hijacking the rectangle that the native platform yields to it. Any app engine could do the same thing.
Re:Why I'm Done Making Desktop Applications
by criddell on Monday April 27, 2026 @08:12AM
(#47920559)
> the web as a platform solves it by hijacking the rectangle that the native platform yields to it
That's a terrible solution that preserves nothing. Try using a screen reader with an app rendered onto a rectangle.
You've reminded me of the XKCD comic about standards: https://xkcd.com/927/
Do you really want a universal app engine? If you don't have a good reason for ignoring platform guidelines (as many games do), then don't. The best applications on any platform are the ones that embrace the platform's conventions and quirks.
I get why businesses will settle for mediocre, but for personal projects why would you? Pick the platform you use and make the best application you can. If you must have cross-platform support, then decouple your UI and pick the right language and libraries for each platform (SwiftUI on Mac, GTK for Linux, etc...).