[Development] Puzzled by desktop development priorities, Mac OS specifically [Warning: Rant]

qtnext qtnext at gmail.com
Mon Aug 5 18:20:45 CEST 2013


and to start ... just be able to deploy a qt quick2 application on mac ...
macdeployqt is broken for 5.1 and it seems that nobody care about it...


2013/7/12 Jan Farø <jan.faroe at gmail.com>

> Hi all,
>
> this is basically a copy of a post I made on http://qt-project.org/forums,
> and I was encouraged to post it here as well as to increase the probability
> of targeting the right audience - you developers.
>
> I have been lurking in the forums for a while, but due to the frustrations
> I’m having with the state of Qt for Mac OS, I decided to sign up in order
> to vent those frustratations (and questions) in a place where it actually
> might help.
>
> I am in the final stages of rewriting a somehow complex (at least for me)
> application to Qt from Java Swing. The time has come to focus on UI
> details, and this is where Qt gives me grey hairs. I started out developing
> in Qt 4.8, and experienced several issues that didn’t work on the Mac (From
> the top of my head: Overlays on video widgets), or just looked plain wrong
> in Mac OS context (For example: Table rows with alternate row colors does
> not extend to the bottom if only containing a few rows; list view items
> does not scroll properly if setting an item widget).
>
> Hoping that Qt5 would solve some of these problems (apart from reaping
> benefit from the great added features like JSON and serial device support),
> I have patiently waited for Qt5 to evolve from beta to 5.1 at the current
> point. Still, I’m seeing the same issues. Still. On top of that, classes
> like QtSingleApplication are not yet there. The unified toolbar on the Mac
> is gone, externalized to qtmacextras, which is still not ready. Compiling
> the latest version is not possible because of errors.
>
> Bottom line is that creating a professionally looking/behaving application
> on the Mac is not yet possible with Qt 5.1, and not with Qt 4.8 either if
> requiring certain features – unless you know how to fix the underlying
> problems, and I certainly don’t.
>
> What I struggle to understand is the strategic choices being made by the
> team responsible. Now, I am in general very happy about Qt, and I am
> admiring the effort that is being done. I understand that creating a cross
> platform framework is an incredibly complex task, even more so on the UI
> side. But – seeing versions for iOS and Android being rolled out, seeing
> funky demos that obviously takes time and effort to develop (the “Live
> widgets in Castle Wolfenstein” demo comes to mind), I strongly feel that
> the development priorities are not balanced – especially having in mind
> that the project is commercially backed.
>
> I do understand that the competition on the mobile market is fierce, and
> that strategically it’s crucial to roll out support for the mobile
> platforms as fast as possible. But please, please please… don’t forget the
> desktop platforms – and don’t forget the Mac. Consolidate the existing
> platforms, then expand. That would be my strategy; but who am I to say that.
>
> Sorry about the rant – however, I doubt I’m the only one experiencing
> these frustrations. Is there any timeline of the completion of qtmacextras
> and QtSingleApplication?
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Jan Faroe
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