RE: [External] : Platform independent graphical display for Emacs

[Drew Adams]

> >> FWIW, I think it would be highly preferable if Emacs
> >> could look and behave the same across all platforms.
> >
> > OK, why do you think that would be highly preferable?
> 
> I don't think that what we do necessarily translates very well to the
> widgets provided by common toolkits.  For example, the mode line is not
> rendered by a toolkit.  OTOH, I can see plenty of benefits with doing
> things ourselves.

I see that you changed the topic (and the Subject line).
OK.

What you had said was that it's preferable for Emacs to
have the same look & feel across all platforms.  That's
what I responded to, with questions about that.

Now you're talking about the question of Emacs itself
implementing things, instead of relying on toolkits
etc.  That's not the same proposal/question.

Assuming Emacs dev provided everything, without relying
on toolkits etc. provided by/for particular platforms
etc., why would it be highly preferable for Emacs to
provide only one look and behavior across all platforms?

I ask about "only one", because, as I said, _allowing_
for the same everywhere is one thing.  _Not allowing_
for any differences is a different thing.

If the aim is to limit Emacs behavior to be only what
can be made available to all platforms (lowest common
denominator), then I think that would be unfortunate
(too limiting, for no particular gain).

IIUC, one explicit aim is to have GNU/Linux be the
most feature-full, out of the box.  Emacs doesn't
pursue development that's only for MS Windows, for
example.  But nothing currently limits Emacs to
providing only behavior that works on all platforms.
___

As for what you're talking about now: I don't have
a problem with that.  If Emacs develops improved
tooltips, dialog boxes, menus, or whatever, so much
the better.  I'm assuming that there's no policy
road-block in the way of that, and that all that's
perhaps lacking is enough volunteer energy.