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From: rms@mole.ai.mit.EDU (Richard Stallman)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: choice of toolkits
Message-ID: <9103110058.AA02712@mole.ai.mit.edu>
Date: 11 Mar 91 00:58:03 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 21

This message is addressed to those who are still considering the
question of which X toolkit to use.

If you choose a free toolkit, such as one distributed in the X
distribution, then your programs will be more useful.  For example,
anyone who uses X will be able to compile them.

If, on the other hand, you use a proprietary toolkit such as Motif,
then most people will not be able to compile or link your programs.
On systems where shared libraries are used, most sites may not have
the proprietary toolkit, and thus may be unable even to run your
programs.

Some of you may hope to use the GNU system when it is completed.  The
GNU system will come with all the free toolkits, but it won't come
with any proprietary ones.  This will mean a growing class of users
who will find an unnecessary disadvantage in your programs.

Finally, the more you choose to support and maintain (if only by
reporting bugs) the free software in the X distribution, the more you
will be helping the X project.