Other/future projects • Re: GTK2 revival

I always wanted people to fix themes so they look better on GTK3, or just... do something more reasonable than constantly repeat their old saw about GTK2 being "the best version" of our application and everything new being bad…

[…]I have to get demoralized seeing just how many people on this forum have more in common with the values of the types on VOGONS or MSFN or whatever than I was hoping. The timing just made it feel like a giant middle finger from the universe, an admonishment, "No, sorry, sir, you are working on a project for old people that like old stuff, you don't get to move it forward, you don't get to do anything except watch them worship their idol called GTK2, and scoff at your GTK2-atheism, at your non-belief… The kind of people that surround your project won't ever do anything but drag you backwards and scold you for wanting to support modern platforms, getting excited about every retro fork and lashing out at every deprecation. They'll keep pining for GTK2, for SSE2-only builds, and Windows XP, and never forgive you for moving forward. That's your potential userbase, and it's not the one you wanted, not the one you were working this hard for. Deal with it."

[…]I just don't like the fact that we're being dragged backwards and told it's okay to never change, never adapt, become irrelevant to anyone except people who like retro desktops as novelties… now I'm seeing how far apart my values and goals are from a lot of people in this community, and feeling like I'm wasting my time trying to bring anything forwards. Because the people here just want the past preserved pixel-for-pixel, bug-for-bug, they don't want the spirit of the past carried forward and kept relevant on newer platforms. […] That man is not a visionary... he's just stubborn and likes old things and can't see any good in anything new. Maybe because of trauma, maybe because of nostalgia, I don't know…

I think another apology might be in order here. I can only speak for myself, of course.

My own attitude towards GTK2 itself is quite weak. I do not know the difference between how a GTK2 and GTK3 interface would appear, for nobody has ever set them side by side before me. My decision to install the GTK2 version of Pale Moon after Pusser’s builds for Debian 10 ceased was following the rule of thumb to favour the older branch of something, without any further thought on the matter, and my ill informed comments earlier in this thread (which I might even request later be deleted) were in the same spirit. As far as my actual knowledge goes, there is nothing chaining Pale Moon to GTK2 beyond NPAPI support, and your off-topic remark satisfies me this last remaining link can be, and is being, broken. Your comments have, in fact, moved me to think that installing the GTK3 version if I should ever need reinstall Pale Moon would be wise. A better rule of thumb would be use the latest version you think you can trust , and you have earned it.

Empirically, I have been moving forwards at about the proper times to keep in step, my own steps always slow and measured: from XP to 7 in 2012, from 7 to Debian 10 in 2020 and plans for the future already discussed here. I gave up NoScript a bit late, when I felt comfortable doing so, but have not looked back since. I confess that I look on the MSFN people with respect, their difficulties in keeping to earlier Windows versions basically akin to those which you face at Google’s hands. Being able to decide whether or when to adopt a new technology is important to me, a separate matter to how I end up deciding in each particular case. I cannot say I fault others for choosing otherwise. They seem to be taking care of themselves well enough (as with Roy Tam’s builds) that you need not burden yourself with their care.