[Python-3000] Add a standard GUI system

[Josiah Carlson]

Bill Janssen <janssen at parc.com> wrote:
> 
> I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, and here it is again.
> 
> The biggest wart in Python 2, the one that forces me to use another
> language, is the lack of a standard GUI.  By standard, I mean that
> when you install Python on a system, the GUI toolkit is also
> installed.
> 
> I suggest that for Python 3K, we adopt Greg Ewing's PyGUI into the
> standard library.  It's been around for years, works on every major
> platform (using GTK+ for Windows and X11, and Cocoa for Mac OS X), is
> Pythonic in flavor, and is aimed at eventual inclusion into the
> standard library.
> 
> http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~greg/python_gui/
> 
> Might want to add another port of it, to a lower-level multi-platform
> framework like cairo (which is now being used in Mono, and Firefox,
> and GTK+).  To function properly in a plug-in in a Web browser, you
> probably need to take over an existing window, and use it.

Python already comes with a standard GUI toolkit; tk.  Also, while I
generally like Greg Ewing's work (Pyrex has saved me so much brain power
interfacing with C extensions), PyGUI doesn't have nearly the market
penetration (into the Python GUI toolkit area) to justify its inclusion
into the python standard library.

Also, it would require shipping a Python GTK binding, which would
basically necessitate shipping GTK+ with Python.  If we are going to go
to the bother of shipping a GUI toolkit with Python (in addition to or
in replacement of tcl/tk), we may as well go whole hog and take wxPython;
it's market penetration (into the Python GUI toolkit area) is growing
steadily, and it offers an "upgrade" path towards more "Pythonic"
additions like Pythoncard, Wax, or even Dabo.  Add to all this the
amazing support that Robin Dunn offers, and you are not likely find any
better option (if we are going to change).

Ultimately, I think the work to get everything included is not
insignificant, so I'm not going to push for it (because I'm probably not
going to be doing any of that work).

+0 on switching included toolkits
-1 for anything that isn't wxPython
+0 for wxPython

 - Josiah