The Kiwi FAQ

  1. What enhancements are planned for future versions of Kiwi?

    The planned enhancements are: keyboard accelerators in the GUI components.

  2. How do I extract the contents of the Kiwi distribution file?

    On UNIX platforms, use a command like: 

    zcat kiwi-x.y.tar.gz | tar xvf -
    Or, if you have GNU tar:
    tar xvfz kiwi-x.y.tar.gz
    On Windows platforms, a current version of winzip can be used.

  3. Are there any demo applications that I can use as an example of using the Kiwi classes?

    A demo application has been written that demonstrates some of Kiwi's capabilities. Unlike the SwingSet demo that comes with the JFC, the demo application for Kiwi is a real application that serves a purpose in and of itself, rather than just being a bunch of demo code. If you're interested, see the Springboard Homepage. This demo application is distributed as GPL'ed free software with source code, of course.

  4. Can I use Kiwi to build a commercial application?

    Kiwi versions prior to 2.0 are distributed under the GNU Library General Public License (LGPL) and can thus be used in a commercial application free of charge. However, beginning with version 2.0, Kiwi is distributed under a dual license scheme. For non-commercial use, Kiwi is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Otherwise, you must purchase a commercial license from the author.

  5. Can I contribute to Kiwi?

    Contributions are very welcome, but please keep in mind that it is not my intent for Kiwi to become a general dumping ground for odds-and-ends. Kiwi is meant to complement the classes provided in the JFC, and in general to provide useful classes for simplifying application development in Java. To this end, highly specialized code or code not related to the existing code in Kiwi probably does not belong in Kiwi.

  6. Why are you making Kiwi (and its source) available for free?

    There are two main reasons. The first reason is that there are very few useful free Java libraries in existence today; Kiwi is an attempt to begin to fill this void. Many of the free libraries that do exist are alternative GUI toolkits that aim to replace rather than augment the AWT and the JFC. There are no reinvented wheels in Kiwi. Kiwi provides only functionality and classes that are not available in the AWT and JFC. The second reason is to provide an infrastructure for creating more streamlined, professional-looking Java applications; many of the Java applications available today suffer from clunky, unpolished user interfaces.

  7. The Kiwi UI components look cool, but I don't like the background texture they use. Can I change this?

    Of course. The Kiwi library (kiwi.jar) contains a handful of alternate background textures that you can use, or you can supply your own. See the API documentation for details.