[GUI] Mission Statement + Widgets

[Wolfgang Thaller]

David Sankel wrote:

> IMHO, there need not be a list of backends supported
> to make a feature stable.  Simply one.  Since we are
> working with Turing Machines here, we know that, in
> general, if it works for one backend it is possible to
> implement it for all backends.

Alastair Reid wrote:

> I beg to differ [...]

David Sankel wrote:

> I would tend to agree with you except for the enormous
> number of counter-examples:
>
> Qt/Mac was introduced after Qt version 3.0 came out.
> Qt was used for years before the mac port was even
> conceptualized.  The API did not change drastically
> with the addition of the macintosh platform. (change
> from rightclick to contextmenu memberfunctions was
> about the only api change).

And applications that use Qt/Mac achieve native look, but not native 
feel. Qt programs use nested MDI windows on MacOS (which just shouldn't 
be...). If the API wasn't changed, programs _cannot_ manage the MacOS 
menu bar properly. The menu bar is not a property of a window, but of 
the application. I thought that the common agreement was to strive for 
a suitable abstraction that covers up the conceptual differences. In 
order to know if that works, we need to look at several platforms from 
the start.

Cheers,

Wolfgang