Glad you've mentioned "GDK X11 backend".

It means that GTK is not a desktop API.

X11 is not a desktop API either as you cannot build with it GUI consistent with other applications on target platform.

Linux is not a desktop OS. By any means. Dot.

Until we have linux_move_window() function.

You're right, Linux isn't a desktop OS. Neither is Darwin or NT.

To make an OS you need a system of desktop-providing tools. Windows is an operating system that provides a desktop stack to the NT kernel. MacOS is an operating system built on Darwin and Mach. Following this line of logic, there are dozens of opinionated Linux distributions that qualify for your definition of desktop OS. (RHEL, Fedora, Ubuntu, KDE Neon, et al.)

Linux systems are no different than Darwin or NT ones if you compare like systems. If you spend all day comparing kernel features to OS features, I don't think you're going to make any meaningful discoveries.

Neither of RHEL, Fedora, Ubuntu, KDE Neon have APIs that GUI developers can rely on.

To be short:

First Linux company that will decide to provide stable API similar to `WndProc(window, params)` (Windows) or `class_addMethod(window,@selector)` (Mac/iOS) will win Linux Desktop war - will make the Linux GUI for years to come.

If someone knows such company - please let us know, at least I am willing to participate.

WNDPROC is part of Win32, not the kernel. You seem to have mixed something up.

If we're talking about kernels with windowing capabilities, there are none. If you're asking about OSes with a reliable, documented graphics stack, RHEL is literally what you're looking for. It's the shitty, "Windows-ified" model of desktop development, and almost everyone ignores it for desktop use. You might argue that it doesn't qualify, but you can't argue that nobody has tried it before.

> WNDPROC is part of Win32,

Users and UI developers don't care. It is part of OS and it is always there.

The only things I know for sure are:

1. Desktop OS is not a distribution but set of popular GUI applications that work on that OS natively including tested specifically on it.

2. Lack of stable window and graphics API leads to fractured GUI developers community. Keeping in mind that number of Linux GUI developers is in magnitude of times less than for Windows/MacOS, makes Linux GUI perspectives very grim.

In general "desktop Linux" is not fair to its most loyal users because of these. Users are forced to pay extra price for hardware just to be able to run those Electron applications - no real native options for similar functionality.

> Desktop OS is not a distribution but set of popular GUI applications that work on that OS natively including tested specifically on it.

That's what a Linux distribution is.

> Keeping in mind that number of Linux GUI developers is in magnitude of times less

It's roughly proportional to the number of people using Windows or MacOS for serious networking applications, yes.

> Users are forced to pay extra price for hardware just to be able to run those Electron applications

What are you even talking about anymore? Linux is not responsible for shitty Electron apps, Windows and MacOS is. People wanted a univeral runtime that worked across both operating systems - neither Microsoft nor Apple budged. So the browser it is - it just came with the side-effect that other browser-enabled platforms can also run Electron. Linux is not forcing you to use bad software because Apple and Microsoft can't work together to fix desktop computing.

If you don't like the Linux desktop, fine. Go use 9front or something. It still exists though, you cannot deny it's usability because you don't like the way it does something. I dislike the way MacOS handles it's desktop, but that doesn't mean it's not a desktop OS.