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I spent yesterday evening trying to see how to make apps that use #libadwaita (the latest UI for #GNOME), and walked away with a streak of anger over a surprising lack of documentation and examples.

#GTK and #GNOME app development have always been a quest that involves throwing a ring in a fiery mountain, while hoping for the best, but in the 25 years since GTK+'s introduction, it has only gotten worse, it just looks prettier now. sigh. #linux

in reply to Thomas Cherryhomes

Have you looked at the developers documentation website: developer.gnome.org/documentat…

The idea that the GTK documentation has only gotten worse is, quite frankly, puzzling to me, considering the amount of work myself and others have put into it to make it easy to read, consistent, and up to date.

If by "examples" you mean "code I can copy and paste at random" then, yeah: it's going to be hard to provide full coverage.

in reply to Emmanuele Bassi

@ebassi

* install gnome-builder, open it up, create new C project
* go to build
* build project

the boilerplate fails.

in reply to Emmanuele Bassi

Before I go into details: are you building with the GNOME run time under Flatpak, or are you using the host build environment?
in reply to Thomas Cherryhomes

Builder will not download the dependencies for you if you're using the host, but it will do that if you're building against the Flatpak run time—which is typically the default when using Builder installed via Flatpak.

You'll have to enter the project configuration (Alt + , or the Configure Project item in the build dropdown) and make sure that the project is using Flatpak by selecting the manifest that Builder generates.

in reply to Emmanuele Bassi

@ebassi that's... wow man, ok.

Does nobody see the lunacy in, "Well if you want to develop a native gnome app, you have to use a whole different package management system kthx?"

in reply to Thomas Cherryhomes

You don't *have* to, but it's the only way to provide a consistent way to get started for newcomers. Of course, if you approach it from the perspective of being "lunacy" then I don't have anything to say that will convince you. I wish you good luck with figuring out how to install all the required dependencies on your flavour of Linux.
in reply to Emmanuele Bassi

@ebassi The lunacy is that you guys have basically given up with working with the distributors, and you see absolutely no problem with that.
in reply to Thomas Cherryhomes

You clearly have no idea what amount of work goes into writing documentation that covers every little possible downstream, especially for people who are not already familiar with Linux development.

But yeah, as I said: it's pointless for me to even answer your ranting. You're just angry at stuff, at the moment. Or all the time.

in reply to Emmanuele Bassi

@ebassi you don't want to understand the frustrations of myself, or a lot of people, just to be smug in your own position.
in reply to Emmanuele Bassi

@ebassi This is why a lot of "newcomers" just write Electron apps, now.

I'm not a newcomer. I was coding in SunView, when you were still in diapers, coded in GTK+ when it was brand new, tracked its progress.

And I am extremely disappointed at how the two biggest Linux toolkits have emphasized style over substance.