Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mailrus!ncar!ico!auto-trol!marbru
From: marbru@auto-trol.UUCP (Martin Brunecky)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re:  What's what in OPEN LOOK/OpenWindows (long)
Message-ID: <833@auto-trol.UUCP>
Date: 20 Sep 90 14:49:02 GMT
References: <9009191654.AA05730@spiff>
Reply-To: marbru@auto-trol.UUCP (Martin Brunecky)
Organization: Auto-trol Technology, Denver
Lines: 45

In article <9009191654.AA05730@spiff> brett@SPIFF.DEN.MMC.COM (Brett Ballantyne) writes:
>I've read several places that
>OPEN LOOK is technically superior to Motif (a debatable issue to be sure,
>but that seems to be the general consensus -- at least in the trade
>rags I read) ....

   It may sound like I want to start yet another war. But I'v seen statements
   like the one above before - but NEVER without any justification.
   
   I can think of many reasons which could be used to justify such
   statements:
   - toolkit features: "pushpins" versus "keyboard traversal", "drag and drop"
     versus "UIL" (comparing incompatible features is purely intentional-).
   - style guide consistency and completness: how well it covers needs of
     wide range of applications, how it deals with new/unknown/undefined
     issues
   - toolkit efficiency: memory usage, number of server requests to bring up
     a UI component, popup appearance speed (and any other areas where toolkits
     can "cheat" to get better than "the other one"-)
   - ease of programming: availability of pre-configured objects, UI definition
     tools such as (but better not-) UIL
   - upwards compatibility between multiple releases
   - toolkit "openness", i.e. how much is the toolkit suitable for add-ons,
     enhancements and customization
   - toolkit code quality/maturity: how many bugs, how serious
   - toolkit support quality: how long does it take to fix a problem or add
     a desirable feature

  I am sure that my list is not complete. But just what I have liste above makes
  me feel that anyone who claims ANY toolkit SUPERIOR to any other one, should
  either choke and die, or better have an aggregated experience of a large
  software house behind such a statement. Note, I won't buy a judgement of
  an "independent" press even if supported by "laboratory evaluation" - toolkit
  is not a disk drive that you can take, shake and measure. You'v got to live
  with it, at least for a while.

  So. Can anyone come up with really justified statement of SUPERIORITY, or should
  we just burry such statements and get going on real issues ?


-- 
=*= Opinions presented here are solely of my own and not those of Auto-trol =*=
Martin Brunecky                   marbru@auto-trol.COM
(303) 252-2499                    {...}ncar!ico!auto-trol!marbru
Auto-trol Technology Corp. 12500 North Washington St., Denver, CO 80241-2404