Lortie: Gtk 4.0 is not Gtk 4

Allison Lortie writes about a new proposed GTK release scheme that may take some getting used to. "Meanwhile, Gtk 4.0 will not be the final stable API of what we would call 'Gtk 4'. Each 6 months, the new release (Gtk 4.2, Gtk 4.4, Gtk 4.6) will break API and ABI vs. the release that came before it. These incompatible minor versions will not be fully parallel installable; they will use the same pkg-config name and the same header file directory. We will, of course, bump the soname with each new incompatible release — you will be able to run Gtk 4.0 apps alongside Gtk 4.2 and 4.4 apps, but you won’t be able to build them on the same system. This policy fits the model of how most distributions think about libraries and their 'development packages'." Only the last release in each major number series (expected every two years) would have a stable API. Read the whole thing to fully understand what is being proposed.

Comments (132 posted)