[linux-audio-user] ANN: JOST, a simple host for native VST - juce and gui theming

[Tim Orford]

On Tue, Feb 27, 2007 at 07:39:51AM -0500, Dave Phillips wrote:
> >
> I'll add an "Amen!" to that. The new GUI for Mammut is impressive, I'd 
> love to see more Linux audio apps use the JUCE framework.

A few people have been saying nice things about JUCE gui toolkit recently,
but I must somehow be missing its attractions.

What gui problems does this toolkit solve? I can imagine that it is simpler
to program for, but at what cost?

If an application has any pretension to actually having any users, it
needs to respect the ui choices of the user, and utilise the system theme(s)
she has chosen. There is a place for one-off custom gui's, and i think
plugins is a good example - their multiplicity increasing the need
for decorative and spacial memory aids - but for the majority of
applications, consistency is important. This is especially true when
the developer has no access to graphical design talent.

The only long term solution is to implement the look of a program
in the theme engine. The major gui toolkits are 100% themeable
(certainly for gtk anyway and probably for kde too). There is a
slight set-up cost, but simply looking at clearlooks_draw.c for
example, makes it clear what to do.

Audio applications do have some unusual widgets - i'm particularly
thinking of rotary knobs and mixer faders - that complicate the issue, 
but I think there is some simple standardisation that can be
done here, so that applications dont have to reinvent the wheel.

It is however regrettable that there is not a better choice of available 
themes to choice from, but i dont believe this lack is due to
any technical reasons.