>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.
The problem is that what they call the stable version will not receive any new features, just bugfixes. For them, stable means frozen in time.
Compare it to Gtk 2.x, which was "stable" in another sense. I could write a program for Gtk 2.12 and it would still work unchanged with Gtk 2.28 - even getting new features.
When I think of a "stable" version, I mean something that is still actively developed and receives new features - but where the developers make sure that there are no breaking changes. So not a beta, but not a legacy/LTS version either.
They are more thinking about a "frozen" or "LTS" version - they just don't call it such.
Rant: the issue with gtk is its deeply intertwined with glib and glib is a mess of code that does mostly what standard C and POSIX (stdint, threading, etc) does but in its own buggy way.
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[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 14.2 ms ] threadOh boy. They are at it again.
It all boils down to naming conventions. Dot-zero is the new beta...
The problem is that what they call the stable version will not receive any new features, just bugfixes. For them, stable means frozen in time.
Compare it to Gtk 2.x, which was "stable" in another sense. I could write a program for Gtk 2.12 and it would still work unchanged with Gtk 2.28 - even getting new features.
When I think of a "stable" version, I mean something that is still actively developed and receives new features - but where the developers make sure that there are no breaking changes. So not a beta, but not a legacy/LTS version either.
They are more thinking about a "frozen" or "LTS" version - they just don't call it such.