[RFC] GTK+ 3 Migration - Alpha-grade Patchset

[John Ralls]

> On Feb 22, 2016, at 1:57 PM, Geert Janssens <geert.gnucash at kobaltwit.be> wrote:
> 
>> Major changes already in my tree:
>> * All "rich" GtkActions/GtkRadioActions/GtkToggleActions were replaced
>> by abstract GActions/GMenus. This doesn't sound like a lot, but is a
>> major change. Please read the relevant API documentation and do not
>> hestitate to ask me if you have any questions about the new GAction-
>> based infrastructure. Sorry for not going into more detail, but
>> describing the technical peculiarities here would take considerably
>> too long.
>> * I removed the splash screen and replaced it by GApplication's busy
>>  notification in some places.
> 
> What's the motivation to remove the splash screen ? GnuCash is a slow loading application. 
> Several users prefer to have a splash screen indicating progress (like LibreOffice does for 
> example).
> And yes, I understand that we could optimize loading speed to avoid the need for a splash 
> screen altogether. But we're not there yet by a long shot.
> 
>> * I updated the HTML code to use the Webkit2 API, but it needs some
>>  more love.
> 
> That's a nice improvement. We were lagging on the Webkit upgrades. There is an important 
> reason for that though: it's almost impossible to build webkit on Windows. Do you intend to 
> tackle that part as well ? We'll need a usable Webkit2 library on Windows before we can land 
> your webkit2 api.
> 
> As an aside: I would prefer to see the migration to the Webkit2 API as a separate project from 
> the gtk3 migration to reduce the amount of moving parts per branch. If gtk3 migration depends 
> on webkit2 API, it should be done first. If not, it can also be done after the gtk3 migration has 
> stabilized.
> 
>> * Using GtkApplication renders everything related to
>>  gtk-osx-integration unnecessary.
> 
> That would certainly be nice. John is in a better position to confirm or deny this.
> 
>> * This is unrelated to the GTK+ 3 migration, but I added a Markdown
>>  version of the README and added a DOAP project description.
> 
> So now there are 2 README's to keep in sync and an additional DOAP description. I would 
> propose to keep only one README file. I have no strong preference over plain vs Markdown. 
> What benefit is the Markdown edition ?
> 
> And what benefit does the DOAP file bring us ?
> 
> Lastly as you say yourself, this is not Gtk+3 migration related, so would best be submitted as a 
> separate PR.

Several different branches: WebKit2, GApplication, and Gtk3 migration. At least. There's probably more buried in there.

GApplication (NOT GtkApplication, that's obsolete and doesn't work on OS X or replace gtk-mac-integration) is a significant architectural change in the program and is separate from Gtk3 migration. I haven't actually tested it. Have any major applications switched? Aside from obviating gtk-mac-integration and maybe integrating better with the Gnome3 desktop what are the benefits? 

A markdown README looks nicer on Github. Markdown is quite legible in plain text, there's no reason to have two.

doap files are used by git.gnome.org for organizing the display of projects. GnuCash has no need of a doap file.

Regards,
John Ralls