But when I actually ran the programs in Linux, I got the shock of a lifetime. The applications I created looked bad – really bad…

I still use many Tk programs – but because of the looks issue, I decided to stop using Tk for my new programs. So I decided to try GTK. I even created a small application using PyGTK(my first) to view the harddisk space usage in Linux – Frees.

It was a very simple application – all I had to do is run the ‘df’ command, parse its output, and display a small table using that data. I was expecting around 100, 150 lines of code at the most. But after I created the app, I have 500+ lines of code.

At first, I thought that it was a mistake on my part – I thought that I was not using the best method. But then I came across an article in Reddit – gnocl or PyGtk?.

PyGtk is still the most recommended binding for Gtk. A lot of programs in Linux is written using PyGtk. So naturally there are a few advantages for using it…

• It will be the more ‘road-tested’ binding.
• Many system will have it installed by default.
• Bigger community – so…
  • more support
  • more examples
  • more tutorials
  • etc.

One the other hand, I have to write more code.

Conclusion

If it is a private script – only useful for myself, then I will use Tcl/Tk or Gnometcl. If the script could be distributed, like Frees, then I will use Python GTK.

What about the other options…

• wxWidgets
• PyQT
• Ruby/GTK
• Perl/GTK

Any recommendations for me on which library to use? Please leave it in the comments.