Subject: [linux-audio-dev] Desktop Environments in the World of Pro Audio
From: Fred Gleason (fredg_AT_wava.com)
Date: Wed Jul 03 2002 - 21:05:11 EEST
Howdy Folks:
The discussion a few weeks back about "polishing" the user interface of Linux
audio apps has set me thinking on the topic of Desktop Environments (e.g.
GNOME or KDE). My sense is that most of the folks that hang out on LAD have
chosen to eschew *direct* support for such things (as opposed to use of a
particular *toolkit*, like GTK or Qt) so as not to limit a project's
potential user base. I myself have shared this attitude as well.
However, I'm now beginning to wonder if in our collective disdain for such
environments we are not doing a disservice to our users. These environments
were created precisely so as to aid in the creation of the "polish" that many
seem to feel is badly needed right now, particularly the whole issue of user
interface consistency across multiple apps. As best as I can recall, the
objections I have seen on this list to supporting these desktops have been as
follows:
1) "These environments don't support low-latency audio"
Indeed, both aRts and esd have to be considered fundamentally broken when it
comes to serious audio work. For applications where low-latency and
sample-sync sharing is important, JACK seems to be the only game in town
right now.
2) "If I base my app in KDE, it won't work under GNOME"
Of course, use of these environments means that a dependency to their
libraries is created. However, that doesn't mean that an application so
written will only run under that environment. I run various GNOME apps
routinely under KDE without significant problems. Ironically, the only
problem I have found is with sound -- it doesn't work because esd is not
running. Not an issue, as any serious audio app won't use those services
anyway. I'm told that the reverse (KDE apps under GNOME) also works, though
I haven't tried it personally.
3) "GNOME and KDE are only suitable for office-automation applications"
Much of the "eye-candy" in GNOME and KDE *is* done from the perspective of an
office-automation type of application -- e.g. a word processor or a
spreadsheet. However, there's lots that would be handy for an audio
application as well. Dialog boxes, for one thing. Theme support. Help
systems. The list goes on.
Any other potential downsides? It strikes me as absurd to be sitting here
bemoaning the primitive state of UIs on Linux audio apps while we have the
embarassment of riches called KDE and GNOME sitting here at our elbow.
Cheers!
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| Frederick F. Gleason, Jr. | Salem Radio Labs |
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