GTK+ 이란?

GTK+는 김프 툴킷(GIMP Toolkit)의 준말로, 초기에 김프를 위해서 만든 툴킷이었으며 X 윈도 시스템을 위한 위젯 툴킷 가운데 하나이다. GTK+와 Qt는 모티프에 대한 좋은 대안이 되어 주었다. GTK+는 1997년 Spencer Kimball, Peter Mattis, 조시 맥도널드(Josh MacDonald)가 함께 만든 것이다. 그들은 모두 UC 버클리에 있는 eXperimental Computing Facility (XCF) 소속이었다. LGPL로 라이선스되었기 때문에, GTK+는 자유 소프트웨어이자 오픈 소스 소프트웨어이고, GNU 프로젝트의 일부분이다.

wiki page 참조[한글]

What is GTK+
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GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. Offering a complete set of widgets, GTK+ is suitable for projects ranging from small one-off tools to complete application suites.

GTK+ has been designed from the ground up to support a range of languages, not only C/C++. Using GTK+ from languages such as Perl and Python (especially in combination with the Glade GUI builder) provides an effective method of rapid application development.

GTK+ is free software and part of the GNU Project. However, the licensing terms for GTK+, the GNU LGPL, allow it to be used by all developers, including those developing proprietary software, without any license fees or royalties. GTK+ is the only 100% free-of-cost open source industrial-strength GUI toolkit available today.

Since its origins as the toolkit for the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), GTK+ has been used in a wide range of software. Notably, GTK+ is the foundation of the GNOME desktop.