d@nny disc@ mc²Mar 4
very interesting discussion which is now my go-to example for why talking about software outside of the political dynamics is a complete fabrication https://front-end.social/@mayank/116172356183037750
Mayank (@[email protected])

i agree with most of this article. https://tonsky.me/blog/fall-of-native/ (the title mentions Clyde (or is it Clint?) but that's unrelated to the actual substance of the article)

Front-End Social
Show threadd@nny disc@ mc²Mar 4
in comparing two sets of APIs, the difference is framed as inherent to the technologies as opposed to carefully constructed by the owners of the tech
Show threadd@nny disc@ mc²Mar 4
the article link itself is extremely funny because it quite literally presumes microsoft and apple are the only two ways apps exist
Show threadd@nny disc@ mc²Mar 4
this reply though (which seems genuine; not trying to call out the author here) is kind of remarkable to me https://front-end.social/@mayank/116172385250368984
Mayank (@[email protected])

i would add that native apps are simply out of reach for most indie devs and small teams. that is unless they're ok with deliberately locking themselves into a single platform/ecosystem. until progressive web apps become actually viable, building native apps using web tech is the most pragmatic approach. the amount of extra work required to go from a cross-platform pseudo-native app to individual fully-native apps is hard to justify.

Front-End Social
Show threadd@nny disc@ mc²Mar 4

i would add that native apps are simply out of reach for most indie devs and small teams. that is unless they're ok with deliberately locking themselves into a single platform/ecosystem.

like if we're describing web apps as a fundamentally different paradigm than executing code on the cpu, then why are we still using the terminology of platform specificity?

Show threadd@nny disc@ mc²Mar 4
because of course the web is not an open protocol. it is a google product. and electron is famously difficult to package. and electron apps take up memory like chrome does because chrome is trying to be an os
Show threadGiacomo Tesio
@[email protected]
native apps are simply out of reach for most indie devs and small teams
counter argument
https://claws-mail.org/ in #GTK
https://apps.kde.org/kleopatra/ in #Qt
https://orbitalquark.github.io/textadept/ in #GTK + #Scintilla

but basically most Gnome and Kde applications are, in fact, pretty portable and ported.

Electron advantage is much more about the reserve army of cheap #JS programmers than about team size.

@[email protected]
Claws Mail - The user-friendly, lightweight, and fast e-mail client

Mar 5 at 9:31amWeb
Show threadd@nny disc@ mc²Mar 16
@giacomo @alcinnz yes! i constantly work to improve the build process for cross-language code but especially code that plugs into OS APIs. i don't think the problem is with js programmers themselves but that the web platform is a google product that is accountable to no one