the damned GUI - was:[PD] Pd in white on black and OSC

[Thomas Grill]

Hi all,

> MAX is fast (I think) due to a C GUI interface, I don't
> think anyone here wants to maintain that unless it solves a huge GUI
> difficiency.

Max is fast because the Quickdraw toolkit it uses is native on Macs. It's
not native on Windows (it's an additional layer), thus Max is relatively
slow (especially with overlapping objects) there.

> Unless there is a specific toolkit made for doing fast vector
> drawing stuff, I don't see how switching to another toolkit is really
> going to make a huge difference.

The main problem with tcl/tk is that
- the communication protocol is incapable of handling bulky data, like
bitmaps and point clouds or video frames.
- it has really limited capabilities for multimedia applications, like
transparency etc.
As soon as one (like me) wants to move away from the puristic line-drawing
patchers, one inevitably has to move to another toolkit. Obviously, all
graphical externs - which are really just a few - have to be adapted then.

greetings,
Thomas