Maybe in the long run all of this is a giant waste of time, GTK3 can no longer be saved, building a desktop on an immature toolkit like Iced just won't work. This is completely possible but I have nothing but respect for developers who actually take it upon themselves to try and resolve what they see as a problem by sitting down and just writing some code.
@BrodieOnLinux Actually, I'd say that Mint is unifying, rather than fragmenting, Linux desktops.
There are a bunch of desktops who aren't served by the specific goals and needs of the GNOME Project.
By creating a separate "XApp" organization, Mint is choosing to collaborate with all these other desktops to create an alternative to the GNOME ecosystem.
I think it's a pretty valid reason to do this and it may also improve the quality and standards of alternative desktops in the long-term.