Wow, not seen that rant before! I remember the OpenMoko devs went all-in on GTK (there was a lot of hype at GUADEC, around the same time as Moblin too), but the OS they shipped was very basic, and the actual phone functionality (calls, texts, contacts, etc.) was taken from QtMobile (later renamed Qtopia, then QtExtended). Later, OpenMoko decided to ditch GTK in favour of Enlightenment, which was certainly prettier, but again the actual phone functionality was QtMobile.
According to Wikipedia Moblin became MeeGo, and MeeGo got replaced by Tizen. So it looks like the same GTK-to-Enlightenment switch was made at least twice (possibly FOMO?).
I've only played with programming Enlightement a little; so never had to encounter the horrors described in that link. As a user I really like E16 (it's my go-to non-tiling WM; but I prefer tiling these days). I never got into E17 on the desktop (it's usable on OpenMoko, but I tend to use QtExtended). I like the fact they're pushing what can be done with 2D raster graphics, since everyone else seems to be vector-based (e.g. Cairo) or 3D (e.g. Compiz); but I never found E17 appealing as a WM or desktop from a productivity perspective.
According to Wikipedia Moblin became MeeGo, and MeeGo got replaced by Tizen. So it looks like the same GTK-to-Enlightenment switch was made at least twice (possibly FOMO?).
I've only played with programming Enlightement a little; so never had to encounter the horrors described in that link. As a user I really like E16 (it's my go-to non-tiling WM; but I prefer tiling these days). I never got into E17 on the desktop (it's usable on OpenMoko, but I tend to use QtExtended). I like the fact they're pushing what can be done with 2D raster graphics, since everyone else seems to be vector-based (e.g. Cairo) or 3D (e.g. Compiz); but I never found E17 appealing as a WM or desktop from a productivity perspective.