[flohofwoe]

The other popular option for cross-platform UI apps was Tcl/Tk:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tk_(software)

...which even leaked into other language ecosystems like Python:

https://docs.python.org/3/library/tkinter.html

[graemep]

Which had the ugliness problem then, although it is a lot better now.

[flohofwoe]

AFAIK Tk simply wrapped native widgets though? E.g. when the result was ugly, then that was because the platform's native UI framework was ugly.

[cmrdporcupine]

It did not. It had/has its own widget set.

It didn't look ugly by early 90s standards (basically Motif look&feel) but didn't evolve.

It also always felt like a foreign body inside Python because Tcl was always still there along with it.

[hulitu]

Not all people love Material design. The fact, that the Label became the main UI widget, is an unfortunate accident.