Re: Which ObjC2.0 features are missing in the latest GCC?

[Liam Proven]

On Wed, 27 Nov 2019 at 12:15, Andreas Fink <afink@list.fink.org> wrote:

>
> On the other hand I would _LOVE_ to see a OS X like desktop with AppKit and I 
> would spend time working on it. Given the other desktops under Linux have not 
> much success because of the way they do certain things, I think there is a 
> big need. Something like what ElementaryOS does but with GNUStep and running 
> on the major distributions (Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/Redhat/Centos) could change 
> the world. This is a long shot. But we have to ask ourselfs what is our 
> strategy for the future.

Absolutely, this.

Given the goals of the ElementaryOS desktop and team, it is a crying
shame they didn't use GNUstep to build it. I am sure they would have
got to a rich, usable product much quicker. I suspect they just did
not know GNUstep existed.

That awareness is key, and it is why I think having at least one
mainstream distro having a full GNUstep desktop available is vitally
important. I know that the GNUstep developer community don't see what
they're doing as a desktop environment, but that is accidentally what
they have built, and that is the № 1 best way of getting visibility
and awareness.

> a) a EASY to use entry. Run on any version of Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Redhat 
> etc with just a simple setup.  ./configure;make;make install should handle 
> all the magic to get up and running from a tar.gz. Or much better a apt-get 
> install gnustep.

This. With the big caveat that DIY compilation is too hard for modern
Linux users. Ready-to-run binaries is the *only* way.

Some people seem to delight in themes to make it look just like Apple
macOS. That is a dangerous path. Remember what happened to PearOS:
bought out, shut down and archives deleted. Elementary only escaped
because it's not a very good copy!

Keep it looking like NeXTstep -- it's _still_ a strong look, a known
brand. Maybe modern themes. Make it respond to the same keystrokes as
macOS: none of this "alt-C" to copy nonsense. Either it's the Windows
way -- Ctrl-C, and conflict with Unix tradition, as KDE/GNOME/XFCE
etc. do -- or the Mac way: Super-C. But GNUstep *must* conform to the
existing norms, and it must exist as an easy-to-install binary
metapackage.

Ideally, IMHO, 2 metapackages: 1 for the desktop environment, 1 for
the dev tools.

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