Mac Fans Disappointed in GTK+ Port
Those wanting to run Linux apps on their Mac desktops now have reason to rejoice — sort of. The GTK+ software development framework has been ported to Mac OS X, so it’s now possible to install and run GTK+ applications on your Mac. But there are some hang-ups. Your apps will look out of place, won’t use standard OS X tools and play havoc with system-wide tools like Expose or the Dock.
GTK+ is cross-platform toolkit for application development. It’s most heavily used in the GNOME environment on LINUX, but it will run elsewhere, including OS X. If there’s a GTK+ app (like GIMP, shown above) that you’ve been missing on OS X, this is probably your best bet. So far though, judging by the over 200 comments on this Reddit thread, the reaction from the Mac community seems to be overwhelmingly negative. Which is too bad since the GTK+ team has put a lot of effort into the port.
The problem is that while the underlying framework works well enough to provide base functionality, the experience of using it on a Mac is dreadful. Even very basic platform interface elements have not been ported — menus are attached to the window rather than the typical toolbar along the top of the screen. We aren’t going to argue about which is the better UI paradigm, but a true port should at least use the conventions of the platform.
Of course the GTK+ team is aware of these shortcomings and is working on addressing them in future releases. For the time being though, GTK+ on a Mac is probably best suited for Linux fans who find themselves stuck working on a Mac.
[screenshot courtesy of GTK+]
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