Windows UI summer of code project

[Florian Quèze]

On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:22, Mark Doliner <mark at kingant.net> wrote:

> In our comments on Wade's proposal we expressed some concern about
> using XULRunner, since there already exists a project called
> Instantbird [1] which is an IM program which uses libpurple and XUL
> for the UI.  I'm not very familiar with Instantbird... it might be
> possible to talk to the developers of that program and see if they
> would welcome a collaborator.

We would welcome more people to work on the project.

> I'm also not very familiar with XUL...
> one question I have is whether it's capable enough to create a UI that
> does what we want.  I would hate for this project to be restricted by
> the use of XUL.  I feel like if we're going to create a new UI with
> the goal of meshing with the Windows OS then we should make sure the
> graphics toolkit we pick supports that goal.  I really should stress
> that I'm not very familiar with XUL, but I'm worried that it isn't
> native enough.

I don't see XUL as a restriction. If we miss features in XUL we can
still extend or patch it, using native code if needed.
>From what I understood .NET isn't really more native than the XUL
approach, but I may be wrong on this, I have little to no .NET
knowledge.

So I guess here choosing between XUL or .NET or something else is more
a matter of personal preference and motivation. I'm a little concerned
about the number of unfinished UIs at the end of the summer, but if
you want to try a fun experiment with new code, go for it!


-- 
Florian Quèze