GUIs - A Modest Proposal

[Ethan Furman]

Jeff Hobbs wrote:
> On Jun 6, 2:11 pm, rantingrick <rantingr... at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Jun 6, 2:06 pm, Mark Lawrence <breamore... at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>>> On 06/06/2010 16:31, rantingrick wrote:
>>>> On Jun 5, 9:22 pm, ant<shi... at uklinux.net>  wrote:
>>>>> I ask the group; should we try to create a new GUI for Python, with
>>>>> the following
>>>>> properties?:
>>>>> - Pythonic
>>>>> - The default GUI (so it replaces Tkinter)
>>>>> - It has the support of the majority of the Python community
>>>>> - Simple and obvious to use for simple things
>>>>> - Comprehensive, for complicated things
>>>>> - Cross-platform
>>>>> - Looks good (to be defined)
>>>>> - As small as possible in its default form
>>>> Yes i one hundred percent agree! The only problem is i am the only
>>>> one! Good luck finding others to climb into this boat. From the
>>>> beginning there has has been this really weird love-hate relationship
>>>> with Tkinter in the Python community. I myself experience this
>>>> emotional attachment every day as i wish for Tkinter to be more
>>>> "pretty" and "feature-rich" whilst at the same time loving it's
>>>> simplicity. Tkinter seems to be Python's whipping boy and nobody wants
>>>> to whip another, so we are stuck in limbo with a lobotomy.
>>>> Heres an idea though, why not expand Tkinter with some new really cool
>>>> widgets...? Hmmm...? That TIX package is a real PITA and could use a
>>>> re-write. Can you believe it took until py3.0 for Tkinter to get a
>>>> combobox :-O! Yea i know! :'-(
>>> Patches are welcome at any time.  I look forward to seeing your first
>>> contribution.
>>> Kindest regards.
>>> Mark Lawrence.
>> Hello Mark,
>>
>> Are you maintaining Tkinter or Tix or both? There is a nagging issue
>> with Tix that needs fixing. Upon subbclassing some widgets and when
>> using the import Tix and import Tix as *. Maybe it is already fixed in
>> 3.0 (i have not checked) but we need to fix it.
>>
>> I am still currently rewriting Tkinter Tix and IDLE in my spare time
>> but got a bit busy lately. Anyhoo, i would really like to bring some
>> patches, upgrades, and just a general spit shining to the entire three-
>> plexx so let me know.
> 
> I am not a Tkinter maintainer, but I am one of the core Tk and Tix
> maintainers (having also completely revamped Tix a couple of years ago
> for better long-term stability and compatibility).  If you have fixes
> that are relevant there, I can integrate them.  I should note that
> much of Tix has been subsumed or replaced by better equivalents in the
> core of Tk.  That said, it assumes you know and are using Tk 8.5.
> I've seen a lot of FUD on Tk in this thread, and much of it is a
> decade old perspective.  Tk 8.5 does have native themed widgets (using
> Win32, Carbon or Cocoa, and X11, though also with plugins to gtk and
> qt).  I'd have to explore more into Tkinter to see where anybody
> derives value from Tix in current programs.
> 
> In any case, the basic mantra for Tix is new development should avoid
> it, but existing development should work fine.  New development should
> leverage the good work of Guilherme Polo in making the Tk 8.5 core
> themed widgets available in Tkinter.
> 
> Jeff

Thanks for the info, Jeff!

Is there a good web-site / tutorial / book / etc that you would 
recommend for getting a good handle on Tk 8.5?

~Ethan~