glib in kdesupport: yes or no?

[Stefan Westerfeld]

   Hi!

I am not sure whether I should put glib-2.0 in kdesupport, basically, because I
am not sure what the platforms KDE developers use are. Under most linux
distributions, glib-2.0 should be available as package. However, under some
other systems, glib-2.0 might not be packaged (i.e. windows, AIX).

I'd propose not adding it, because glib is part of the GNOME project. At this
point in time, I see no distinction between KDE and GNOME any longer.
Basically, both are an effort to provide a free desktop. KDE is additionally
depending on Qt to do so, but in fact, they are the same project already
pretty much. If GNOME would add a Qt dependancy for getting a sane C++
programming API, and we would add a glib dependancy for portability, we would
have effectively merged the projects.

The distinction between "is a GNOME developer" and "is a KDE developer" only
exists in our minds, at least I think that is so. It is artifically heightened
whenever we see GNOME and KDE as seperate projects. I think they are the
same thing, really.

Thus, at this point in time, I see no longer a reason to upkeep not demanding
KDE developers from using glib whereever they see it fits their needs best,
and GNOME developers from using Qt whereever they see it fits their needs
best. Then, if we'd made this step in our minds, the projects would naturally
start to converge, and all of us would benefit.

This is why I suggest not refusing using GStreamer in KDE "because it is a
GNOME project", in the same way that I think no GNOME developer should reject
using Qt "because it is part of KDE".

Thus, the only question to judge for whether or not I put glib-2.0 in
kdesupport seems to me: "is it practical to do so".

For me, its extremely unpractical, because I already have a distribution that
gets glib-2.0 for me, and also includes pkg-config, and I don't want two
versions. Thus, I think it might be inconvenient for a lot of other developers
as well, due to the same reasoning.

And if you still think KDE and GNOME are seperate projects, and for that
reason don't want to install glib-2.0 on your system, I think you're keeping
up the illusion that KDE and GNOME are working on different goals. They are
not. Thus, this is no valid reason for me.

   Cu... Stefan
-- 
  -* Stefan Westerfeld, stefan at space.twc.de (PGP!), Hamburg/Germany
     KDE Developer, project infos at http://space.twc.de/~stefan/kde *-