> FOX does seem very nice on initial review.  The bundled image viewer
compiled
> w/o a problem and it seems to load gif, jpg or png files and also saves
png
> files (didn't try the others) so that is very good news.  The png's also
seem
> to load and sae with transparancy preserved, so _that_ is very, _very_
good
> news! :-)

FWIW, FOX also supports the BMP and XPM image file formats.

> Only downside I can see at the moment to FOX as the GUI of choice for Ruby
is
> current lack of Mac support (and I don't mean for OS X only).  While both
Mac
> and Linux users are way down the list relative to Windows in terms of
market
> share, they are still a significant factor in many specialized areas.
Linux
> market share is growing, but Mac users tend to be fiercely loyal (and
vocal)
> and represent a strong niche market which, I believe, Ruby developers
should be
> able to address along with the others.  Just my thoughts on cross-platform
:-)

Jeroen (FOX's author) designed FOX from the outset with portability in mind.
He wrote the initial version for X and then he and I worked together on the
Windows port. Because FOX takes the "lightweight" approach to widget
implementation (i.e. not relying on native platform widgets) you'll find
that a majority of the widgets are written "in FOX", and contain no
platform-specific code. I personally have never touched Macintosh
programming so I don't know what issues would come up there but I'm fairly
confident that a Mac port is doable. We just didn't support Mac at CFD
Research and no one in the FOX community has stepped up to take on the
challenge -- yet ;)

> Now, if I read the previous posts correctly,  wasn't it FOX that was
> considering Mac support if they only had a testbed? If so, perhaps there
is a
> Ruby/Mac user on this list with the time to become a member of the FOX
> development team and thus (in a roundabout sort of way) make this happen?

I think I can speak for Jeroen that this would be very welcome indeed.