unity-design team mailing list archive

[Adrian Maier <syraxes@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 21:59, nick rundy <nrundy@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I think the community (at a minimum) needs to ask Mozilla and TDF to change
> toolkits for their Linux offerings. Frankly, Firefox's
> appearance/presentation on Linux is rather pathetic. Just take a look at the
> forums and lots of folks are posting pictures of Firefox on Windows and
> commenting about how nice it looks while bemoaning the appearance of Firefox
> on Ubuntu.
>
> Chrome on the other hand looks good on Linux. Here's an article I found
> about why Chrome went with GTK+:
> http://www.osnews.com/story/20980/Linux_Version_of_Chrome_To_Use_Gtk_
>
> Basically, Chrome went with GTK+ because it would mean a better Linux
> product. I have looked at a LOT of performance reviews comparing Firefox and
> Chrome web browsers. Chrome routinely performs better on Linux than Firefox.
> And Firefox routinely performs better on Windows. Granted, this probably
> isn't due solely to the toolkit. But I think it plays a role while also
> reflecting on the commitment to Linux in the design of the product.
>
> Opening Ubuntu up to Qt I think was good move. It's a widely used toolkit
> and encouraging app makers to support Ubuntu is important, even at the
> expense of "seamless appearance." Perhaps in time the integration of Qt
> won't look so "foreign"?
>
> I think the "toolkit problem" has a solution though and it lies more in
> getting companies like Mozilla to not be so Windows-centric in their product
> design and creation. After-all they are gung-ho about open-source and
> freedom right? Why don't they do more to advance their Linux version of
> Firefox and Thunderbird? I don't think it's too much to ask.

Hi ,

I think it's  unfair to say that Mozilla is Windows-centric,
especially when compared against Chrome.

Chrome was released for linux about 2 years after the Windows version
.  So it's not exactly a good example regarding how should a project
support Linux .


It doesn't seem feasible to go to various projects and ask them to
migrate to another presentation toolkit.  Such a change can happen
only if in their own community there are already enough people
thinking about such a change  (and also willing to spend effort to
implement it) .




-- 
Adrian