On Wed, 24 Feb 1999, Bill Sommerfeld wrote:

> > I assume that there is a good technical reason for the situation.  I am
> > curious what that reason is.
> 
> Yeah.  Free software doesn't move in lockstep, and often doesn't have
> backwards compatibility with previous revs as a design goal (or makes
> a tradeoff that backwards compat is less important than the latest

This would make more sense if the GIMP (the raison d'etre for the gtk,
right?) were up to date, but some of the "3rd party" applications were
not.  Instead, it's the other way around: The GIMP is in the group that's
lagging.  Or is the GIMP a fractured project?

In any case, this doesn't really provide a technical reason.  Free
software on my previous system (a dearly departed Amiga) did not seem to
have such problems.  Of course, it is entirely possible that I am seeing
the past through emerald glasses.

Still, at leat it provides a partial answer: Yes, the libraries are in the
same lineage; and presumably yes, _normally_ shared libraries are not so
version-sensitive, but the gtk library happens to be an exception.


  "I probably don't know what I'm talking about." --rauch@eecs.ukans.edu