My name is Jeff Franks. I'm a C++ programmer first, and a C programmer only when I have to be. My discovery of Linux several years ago came at a time when I was fed up with that other operating system. Linux presented me with a whole new programming experience and whole new learning curve.  I went looking for a C++ application framework and found the two main ones QT,  and GTK/GTK--. QT was good, comprehensive, and reminded me a lot of Borland's OWL but then QT was still a proprietary library, and not released under the GPL as it is now. I started trying to write a program with Gtk-- but found too many bugs. I made an effort to discuss the bugs and help fix them but my novice emails were repeatedly ignored on the Gtk-- mailing list. I gave up and bought a GTK+ programming book by Donna Martin, et al., and set about learning GTK+. I soon realized that GTK+ wasn't too difficult and decided too try and write a C++ framework for it as I learned.

I began writing the GCode library in early 2000, about the time that GTK+ development version 1.3.1 was released. I had written a C++ application framework  before, for that other operating system, but was never able to complete it because the operating system and its C API kept changing, and it was too expensive to keep up. Linux gave me the opportunity to not only write and complete a C++ application framework but to learn GTK+ programming at the same time. I chose GTK+ because I felt it gave me the best opportunity to make an open source contribution.

I wanted GCode to be a thin but comprehensive C++ wrapper around the GTK+-2.0 library, but I didn't want it to be more than it should. It was just a C++ language binding. Throughout its development I have  tried to maintain a good balance between remaining faithful to GTK+ and remaining faithful to C++. Hence the catchphrase in the home page logo - the power of gtk+ . the power of c++.

Soon after the original Inti project was abandoned, I decided to base future GCode development on the Inti source code base, in the spirit of open source development. That way, I could keep one of Havoc's ideas alive, although not quite in its original form.

Apart from a GUI toolkit, the original Inti project had expansive plans to include several other modules and was to be the official C++ platform for Red Hat Linux. Unfortunately Havoc had commitments to several other projects, including the development of GTK+ itself, and was unable to continue developing Inti. For historical interest, the original Inti web site is still online and can be viewed here.

Inti today is a different project and has no current association with Havoc Pennington or Red Hat Linux. It carries the name of its forebear and has many of the same design goals but several of its key implementation details are different.

This Inti library has a simple, fast and easy to use C++ interface that doesn't compromise on any essential C++ features. At the same time it doesn't hide the GTK+ programming paradigm too much so C programmers can use all the concepts they are already familiar with. There is nothing too complex about Inti's implementation so it should be easily understandable and usable by everyone. Give it a try and see what you think!