[OSX] Webkit.

[John Ralls]

On Sep 14, 2009, at 8:29 AM, Derek Atkins wrote:

> John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us> writes:
>
>> But there's a bigger problem: I had to patch Webkit-Gtk to get it to
>> compile and submitted the patch. It's a matter of conflating Gtk and
>> X11. (It's at https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=28727) The
>> response was to patch more extensively to ensure that Webkit-Gtk  
>> won't
>> build without X11, and when I reopened the bug, the maintainer
>> commented that Webkit-Gtk doesn't support the Quartz backend. As long
>> as Gnucash will build against 1.1.12 we're fine, but if we have to
>> move to a newer version, more extensive patching will be needed.
>
> Ummm....
>
> That seems counter-productive!  Did they give a reason for making
> that restriction?  *sigh*
>
> Do you want me to get involved with this issue?
>
> It seems pretty bad that you supply a patch to get it webkit-gtk  
> working
> with Gtk-Quartz and they make it not-work!

It seems dumb to me, too. As you may have noted, the ticket remains  
open but apparently ignored. I haven't pursued it on the Webkit-gtk  
list yet.

The open hostility is unusual. More common is simple neglect. Most of  
the dev teams are Linux-focussed and not terribly interested in cross- 
platform compatibility. They'll accept patches, but won't do anything  
themselves to ensure compatibility. In the Linux world, the distro  
teams do all sorts of compatibility patches (as do Fink and MacPorts  
maintainers, as David Reiser pointed out.) The Gtk+ team can't even be  
bothered to commit patches since Richard Hult withdrew.

As for you "getting involved", to do what? Adding another lonely voice  
on the dev lists (in your copious spare time ;-) ) won't hurt, but it  
seems unlikely to make much difference.

Regards,
John Ralls