Why do so many linux distros have such lame themes?

Discussion in 'all things UNIX' started by mattdocs12345, Jan 23, 2014.

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  1. mattdocs12345

    mattdocs12345 Registered Member

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    Okay I've been doing some pseudo- distro hopping here and there, keeping my LM 16 but booting every now and then into different Linux distributions via USBs.
    My 6 months conclusion from the Linux World is that geeks have no tastes in colors. Lets look at the top distros from distro watch:
    Linux Mint
    - what is up with all that green, not the most neutral color out there.
    - poor resolution green folder icons
    - Oversized and pixelated update shiled
    - MATE weird looking menu shadows?
    - Why is the clock font and try icons so bold?
    Ubuntu
    - purple/orangeo_O really....
    - dark semi black/gray menus...
    - entire theme just feels too dark
    OpenSuse
    - again whats up with all that green?
    PCLinuxOS
    - the gray start menu just doesn't go with the rest of the icons and desktop

    I honestly do think that Microsoft and Apple have done such a better job with picking neutral colors, maintaing consistancy of their design and putting in high resolution and high quality icons. IMO geeks have no taste...

    Now what I want.... is a consistent neutral in color theme. By consistent I mean that the colors don't change into different shades of green but remain the same whether it's the tray menu, file manager or the start menu. Also I want icons to match the main theme, I want the font to be consistent and unusually bold in one area more than the other. I want the menu to just look regular without weird shades.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2014
  2. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    Its a good thing Linux lets you change themes so easily then!
     
  3. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    I don't mind the default Mint themes, but the Mint desktop background is terrible... I can't stand it, it's the first thing I change after an install... it's just way too bright.
     
  4. mattdocs12345

    mattdocs12345 Registered Member

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    Not really. You gotta manually replace individual icons, edit css file (risking crashing your Cinammon) and other problems. Ubuntu is much easier with Unity Tweak Tool.
     
  5. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    And almost all of the themes available look unprofessional and have poor aesthetics.

    Apple is the king of GUI aesthetics. No match indeed.

    And one more thing I wonder Apple OS is so fast. If you launch safari on a macbook, it loads in a fraction of second. IE loads instantly on windows as well though not as fast as safari in OSX. Now if I launch any browser in linux it takes much longer. Same is true for loading of any application.

    The reason I think is that linux is free. They can,t afford the budget for such a high end programming and super tweaking of the OS.
     
  6. mattdocs12345

    mattdocs12345 Registered Member

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    Nah. I think the solution is much simpler than that. Apple and MS both pre-load their browsers during OS start up.

    Now I just want a damn consitant UI Theme both icons, borders and shades on my LM 16....

    I checked out Elementary OS, I love their them. Unfortunetly their Linux distro is a peace of junk.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2014
  7. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    I quoted browser just as an example. Actually it is true of most applications. They can,t preload all the applications.
     
  8. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    Why? Just use the GUI to change your icon theme.
    Again why? Are you trying to manually edit an existing theme? Just download an existing GTK+ theme and switch using the GUI.
     
  9. mattdocs12345

    mattdocs12345 Registered Member

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    The themes won't load when I put them in .theme in home folder.
     
  10. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    I think the name needs to be .themes. Alternatively, do they work if your put them in /usr/share/themes?
     
  11. wat0114

    wat0114 Registered Member

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    This works for me.

    I used to care about eye candy but lately it's more about functionality, stability and speed. Using xfce desktop on both openSuse and Lite, I use a combination of the LiNsta-Black-Plastic and Gentle_2.0 themes to nice effect, without bogging down performance :) Both I simply extract and move to the directory WSFuser points out and they work fine.

    Apple I don't know about. I suppose it's not surprising if you go by the age-old mantra "you get what you pay for".
     
  12. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    No matter how much we hate Apple, there is no doubt that Apple is the gold standard for user interface aesthetics both in software and hardware. Proof is the GUI and animations of OSX and iOS and design of iPhone.

    I am not an apple fanboy. Infact I prefer android and linux but it doesn,t make me blind to the facts.
     
  13. Krysis

    Krysis Registered Member

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    Yep – have to agree. I'm always installing and\or downloading themes to get the visual and usable windows effects that I want in various distros.
    Eg, changing the appearance of Min\Max\Close buttons – scrollbars, etc. I found in some distros such as Fedora, Elementary Luna – the only way to get rid of the awful skinny scrollbars (in Firefox) was to download and set a particular GTK theme. So themes are not just eye candy - but can be very useful.

    I also don't bother using .themes – I just extract the theme in Downloads and move the extracted folder to /usr/share/themes.
     
  14. Dave0291

    Dave0291 Registered Member

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    I agree with this complaint, and would go further in saying that icons and more all look like trash. It's like they are all stuck in the mid 90s. Oh, and please tell me why every damned dialog box and the setup options (especially when installing) look like it belongs on a Nintendo instead of an OS from 2014. These distros need to overhaul their looks badly. They look worse than Windows 98 for crying out loud.
     
  15. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    I don't care very much what the GUI looks like, as long as it doesn't hurt usability. I've come to loathe KDE, with its fuzzy animated cursor. Stock Ubuntu is garish. I'm liking stock Crunchbang more and more, with its soothing grey theme :)
     
  16. lotuseclat79

    lotuseclat79 Registered Member

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    Clearly, you have not learned to use System Settings>Appearance where you could easily select Twilight Frost (at least from the Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS ISO burned to a USB).

    Learn how to use a Linux distribution first before you see fit to criticize it without the basic (easy peasy for Liniux beginners) knowledge it takes to get what you want. Oh, and System Settings is an icon in the Launch Panel.

    -- Tom
     
  17. PaulyDefran

    PaulyDefran Registered Member

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    I installed some icons (blue) and changed the wallpaper, but that's about it. Mint 16 Cinnamon is good enough. I *would* like to figure out how to make all windows a dark color, instead of gray though. I like Ubuntu's black/dark gray window color.

    I only messed with the GUI Theme Manager and tried out some dark themes. Some were OK, but I'm back on stock Cinnamon. I'm still searching for a kick butt dark Cinnamon theme.
     
  18. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Some geeks have a bad taste - I, for example, have an awesome taste. The golden formula is white/gray, gradients, a pastel color to offset - green/lime/orange. Can't go wrong with that, alas, too many people fail to embrace this.

    All they need is browse the IKEA catalogue for a few min.

    Mrk
     
  19. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    Exactly.

    BTW if you have specific complaints over a distro's theme then post to their forums and politely ask for improvements. Also if a particular distro's theme is overwhelming a single color (like openSUSE or Mint's green) then its usually on purpose. I mean just look at their logos.
     
  20. roady

    roady Registered Member

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    I don't know about OSX,since I don't use it.....but IOS....reallyo_Oo_O?
    I have IOS 7.04 on my Ipad and it looks like a child's toy now....:thumbd:
     
  21. mattdocs12345

    mattdocs12345 Registered Member

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    Now why should I learn Linux to change themes? Really?.... Did you mean like learn Linux like Mrk means it or half-a$$ way. Cause I'd rather stay lazy and not learn Linux than pretend that I do know it.

    BTW, stay on topic and don't try to hijack it with pointless comments.

    Yeah I did that. LM looks almost perfect with Spearmint theme and gnome icons. The only problem are those tiny but overly bold tray icons at the bottom right.

    Im trying Netrunner Enigma-II, their UI seems much better. I will see if I like it. Maybe I just need a break from LM16 after getting frustrated with it for too long.
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2014
  22. The Red Moon

    The Red Moon Registered Member

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    @matt.
    This is the beauty of linux.it is fully customisable and can be tailored to your own tastes.Just tinker with it for a while and it may surprise you.
     
  23. Baserk

    Baserk Registered Member

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    As mentioned, probably because geeks are not necessarily also artistically gifted.
    I recommend 'Sphere' icons btw, though you might have to 'learn' how to swap some oversized panel icons.

    Then again, while I'd like the-perfect-GUI-just-for-me as much as the next one, im(a)o it still sounds a bit like getting a free brand new BMW and then start complaining about the upholstery and having the need to improve it.
    Satisfied with xfce and some old nodoka theme bits, my beauty-treshold is probably below-par but stability, consistency, functionalities and the not so minor fact that it is all free, are way more important.
     
  24. mattdocs12345

    mattdocs12345 Registered Member

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    I moved on to Netrunner for now. I have to say these guys are way ahead of Linux Mint and Ubuntu. First of all you don't have to learn anything
    you just open their theme manager which is preloaded with more than 2 themes and you can customize more than just the way the start menu or the bottom panel looks.
    Lets see how Netruuner performs against LM when it comes to stability.
    Lol, don't get me started on that! I used to work at car rental. We had that mercedez benze in there with stick shift handle being covered by a plastic painted silver so that it looks like it is metal! Seriously.... I'd rather drive a honda than a piece of ***** like that. At least they dont paint their plastic silver and try to immitate aluminium or steel.
     
  25. Baserk

    Baserk Registered Member

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    Tsk, tsk, tsk.
    Comparing the BayerischeMotorWerke with those Baden-Württemberg taxi cars?
    In some parallel universe, we're probably at war now. :p
     
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