[clean-list] Clean 2 compiler, OIO, Linux graphics

[Brian Rogoff]

On Mon, 11 Jun 2001, Richard A. O'Keefe wrote:
> Corrin Lakeland <lakeland@freki.otago.ac.nz>, explaining that he does not
> use Windows (and I must say that not using Windows has kept a smile on my
> face and a song in my heart for Lo! these many years) suggested that
> 
> 	"it would be nice if Clean supported graphics programming [for
> 	UNIX], and that means picking a toolkit."
> 	
> I would like to urge the Clean team NOT to worry about which Linux kit to
> use.  O'CAML manages to support graphics programming very nicely thank you
> without any of that stuff, just Tk.

Actually, a fair number of people do GUI programming in OCaml using Gtk. 
Probably the main reason that LablTk rather than LablGtk is what you 
get "out of the box" is that LablGtk is still evolving whereas LablTK is 
moribund, errr, very stable. 

Gtk runs on Unix/X (not just Linux!) and Windows (no Mac port yet I think). 
It's written in ANSI/ISO C, not C++ (that's a big plus for me). Its the 
GUI toolkit supported by GNU Ada, and there are Python and Perl bindings, 
etc. 

For all that, I wouldn't really care what the Clean team picks, I just
want Unix (Solaris, Linux, maybe HPUX too, others have other priorities) 
as a supported Clean OS. Indeed, I'd expect the binding to be "thick" so 
that the Clean programmer wouldn't really see the GUI toolkit. However, I 
have some familiarity with Gtk and so I could volunteer to do any grunt
work in a port. I'd just cheer from the sidelines if Qt or Squeak or
whatever is used.

> I find Clean a splendid language for non-graphic programming on
> Solaris, and would regard any Linux-specific solution with dismay.

Oh my yes, I hope no one thinks I was suggesting Linux specific GUI
libraries. The OCaml example is perfect; I'd like Clean to be as portable
as OCaml. I can and douse OCaml at work. As much as I like Clean, it
would be insanity to try and get Clean used where I work, since we're a
Unix shop. I already had this discussion with my manager, who is very open
to advanced languages, and the only thing that prevents Clean from being
used is the status of Clean on Unix.

-- Brian