XPython (X11)

[Boudewijn Rempt]

Bernhard Reiter <bernhard at alpha1.csd.uwm.edu> wrote:

> Bad wording on my part, I guess. :)
> Maybe I should call it internally aimed API.
> Means: Yes, you can use it from outsite, but the abstraction in this
> case is wrong.

> Like: Why do I need a HTML widget if I can just delegate the task to
> any HTML browser. The GNOME people would never delegate a task to the
> KDE HTML widget. But they could have an API to delegate it to any
> HTML browser and then let the user assemble it. If the user has
> KDE on the machine, he might as well use the KDE HTML browser.

There can be several quite good reasons. For instance, using
a html widget gives you a relatively portable way of composing
auto-layouting dialog boxes. One can use a html widget as a kind
of rich text presentation box - again, using the layout engine.
It's not much different from using a button or an edit box. You
can do a lot with html besides browsing.

> This is why the KDE and GNOME APIs are targeted within their own
> structure, but not to seperate tasks and nurture compatibility.

compatibility is always a tricky issue - especially if one wants
to be different, too...

>>Oh well, platform compatibility that costs money is still
>>platform compatibility.
> No. Proprietory software is not a real option. 

Well, I agree with that - but that rules Windows out as an
option, too - so it doesn't matter anymore.

-- 

Boudewijn Rempt  | http://denden.conlang.org