From: "Michael C. Libby" <mcl-ruby-talk@...>
Date: 2004-12-12T23:17:10+09:00
Subject: Re: Writing GUI's in Ruby

On Sun, 2004-12-12 at 13:22 +0900, Hobby Racer wrote:
> I'm new to Ruby and I am looking for a list of "main stream" libraies for 
> writing GUI application in Ruby.  I have found the obvious choices that ship 
> with Ruby.
> 
> Tcl/Tk
> FXRuby
> 
> Are their any others worth lookin into. 

Good summary of what GUIs are available: 
http://www.rubygarden.org/ruby?ComparingGuiToolkits/TakeTwo

Personally I prefer ruby-gtk2 from ruby-gnome2.sourceforge.jp--a choice
I made because:

1) both gtk+ and the Ruby libs are LGPL, 
2) gtk+ is core of GNOME desktop (so my Ruby GUI apps are consistent
with my desktop and most of my other main applications),
3) gtk+ and ruby-gnome are written in C (not a big deal, but it was a
factor for me),
4) ruby-gtk2 API is extremely easy to learn and use (lots of optional
arguments and sensible defaults), 
5) runs on MS Windows (with big downloads but minimal hoop jumping)*,
6) well-documented (if ruby-gnome2 project doesn't have something
documented the API docs at www.gnome.org do--not hard to understand how
to "translate"),
7) flexible (widgets use existing desktop themes, are otherwise very
configurable).

* Question: would it be possible for one-click installer to include
ruby-gtk2, perhaps as a flavor or add-on? What if bribery were
involved? :)

 - mcl, www.andsoforth.com