Why oh Why can't we make Linux better looking

[smurphos]

By the way, here's my home folder with Mac4Lin as the windows theme.

If you like a Mac look this has very recently been released...

https://github.com/paullinuxthemer/McOS ... on-Edition

Looks kindna nice if that's your thing....



icon theme is Suru++ (https://github.com/gusbemacbe/suru-plus)

Nothing better than your own work though ....Cinnamox-Rhino

[BubbaBlues]

Screenshot_20180728_133941.png

Boys, BOYS! Linux does have beautiful eye candy. It's called KDE. And it is most configurable with thousands of
different theme combinations. Unfortunately Mint has decided to drop it. Big mistake since it's the best thing Mint
has going for it. (mho)

[CaptainKirksChair]

to you, that is nice,

to me, it is most hideous POS theme I have seen.... the Banner bar at the top of the page is invisible.

folks with vision problems need SOLID COLORS, not a bunch of pastel junk that I can't see what the hell is going on...

put a color chart in front of me, and I don't see a damn thing but a fugly overall greenish tint.

I don't like a lot of clutter on my desktop. The task bar is the default size for Cinnamon, I just moved it to the top.

The background changes when I feel like it; that was just one of many I have. It is a bit much.

And by the way, I am one of those folks with vision problems. I'm red/green color blind so pastels actually work well for me.

[vladtepes]

Screenshot_20180728_133941.pngBoys, BOYS! Linux does have beautiful eye candy. It's called KDE. And it is most configurable with thousands of different theme combinations. Unfortunately Mint has decided to drop it. Big mistake since it's the best thing Mint
has going for it. (mho)

I was wondering if anyone was going to suggest to the OP that they try the various different MINT desktops.

XFCE is also very configurable, so worth a look.

[MurphCID]

Screenshot_20180728_133941.pngBoys, BOYS! Linux does have beautiful eye candy. It's called KDE. And it is most configurable with thousands of different theme combinations. Unfortunately Mint has decided to drop it. Big mistake since it's the best thing Mint
has going for it. (mho)

I was wondering if anyone was going to suggest to the OP that they try the various different MINT desktops.

XFCE is also very configurable, so worth a look.

I tried XFCE on my wife's old laptop, but I prefer cinnamon. XFCE looks good, but again it is fonts and icons. They need better sharpness, better anti-aliasing, better skeumorphism. An example I have is that Windows and Mac O/S fonts and icons look like they were drawn with an technical pen, and Linux fonts and icons generally look like they were drawn with a magic marker (not a fine point). I am not completely fond of the flat icon look, I like drop shadows, and slightly rounded texture. The Aqua interface in Mac O/S was just one of the most beautiful interfaces around...ever.

[JosephM]

I hope this thread gives you some idea of why Linux isn't better looking. Every person who comments has a different idea of what would make it the "best". There will never be a case where someone doesn't complain about the choices you make. Just be glad you actually have choices and a way to change it if you're willing to learn.

[rambo919]

There's always this one person that prefers the angrly salad type theme that gets upset when passers by complain about their eyes hurting....

[BubbaBlues]

Yep it's all about freedom.

[Portreve]

Personally, I'd like to see Clem & Co. see if they could make a go of Qt-based Cinnamon. From what I understand, Gnome is continuing to be a bunch of idiots, and given they're the ones building GTK... yeah

[JosephM]

Personally, I'd like to see Clem & Co. see if they could make a go of Qt-based Cinnamon. From what I understand, Gnome is continuing to be a bunch of idiots, and given they're the ones building GTK... yeah

Yeah, that's not happening Gnome bashing is popular around Linux. Yet, pretty much all of the biggest distros ship with Gnome or Gtk based desktops as the default. I hear people say things like this sometimes but rarely give actual hard and good reasoning for it.

[BubbaBlues]

I'd like to see them drop mate and focus on KDE. But that ain't happening either. It's a shame though because they are so
far ahead of everyone else with KDE they could dominate the kde world. They kinda already do. I seriously believe that's why
Mint has been in the numero uno position at Distrowatch for so long. Everyone makes a Mate desktop and they're all the same.
(boring and ugly) Everyone makes a KDE desktop too but almost every single one of them is crap unless you spend hours
tweaking and fixing bugs...except Mint.I very seldom ever have a problem with it. The one thing they have that outperforms
and outshines every other distro, and they're dropping it.

[MurphCID]

If QT is so much better, why don't we use it? HiDPI sucks, it really does. Also why is KDE so much better in some people's mind? And why the hate for Gnome?

[rambo919]

Some people just like it more..... especially compared to stock Gnome. Early KDE 5 was a disaster but the current one is great.

Cinnamon is basically a reworked Gnome 3 and almost does everything needed, for me personally the only lacks CM has is no multi-line taskbar (the optional applet just does not work no matter what I do) and no menu applet that really focuses on touch screens for those that need one. As a win7 GUI replacement Cinnamon is absolutely perfect.... except for no multi-line taskbar.

Most apps have a GTK legacy and that's pretty much why most of everything still uses it.

[JosephM]

If QT is so much better, why don't we use it?

You're unlikely to get many legitimate responses to this on a user forum. Not a lot of people have used both enough to give you a proper answer. Even then it's down to the opinion of the individual dev. They both have strengths and weakness. For devs it comes down mostly to what they are most comfortable using and what gets the job done for them. What you're mostly going to get is "fanboy" responses. That is, people who's favorite DE use a certain toolkit so they just assume it's the better choice.

[DAMIEN1307]

i think it just boils down to what one is comfortable with in daily usage...as a for instance, my systems that i use personally are all xfce desktops in various distros...i really dont turn on a computer to admire the "eye candy"...in fact, my background is an earth tone variegated coloured background with just the word "LINUX" emblazoned in the centre...no pictures, no icons etc...everything i need to click on is either in the panel or in my browsers bookmarks...all else i can just type into the "startpage search engine...the whisker menu is "plain jane" using a GNOME icon theme that i would say looks an awful lot like the old windows 98 second edition, which by the way was my favourite windows edition,...XP was way too much splash and dash eye candy for me...so it just boils down "to each his own" and the customisations of linux distros allows for so many options,,,you just make it your own...no 2 of them are the same...except maybe mine, which i purposely make all the same...DAMIEN

[BubbaBlues]

The reason I love KDE so much is because it is so easy to configure every aspect with a gui. There are literally thousands of
different theme choices and window decoration choices. It can be as bland as xfce or ten times more flashy than windows or
Mac. The system settings has everything... and it works unlike the settings manager in say, xfce which gives you very minimal
choices and then half of them don't work if you use compiz which is the only compositor that works right. That being said, I actually
like xfce pretty well once you get rid of the panel and use AWN or Cairo dock. I'm using it right now with AWN. You can still get
it if you look for it.

Screenshot_2018-08-04_12-47-46.png

[BubbaBlues]

I figured I try Mate because xfce was giving me too many problems. I gotta say I'm liking it! Mate has changed a lot
in the last couple of years and the Cairo dock seems to be working great. I just might be in love again.

Screenshot at 2018-08-05 19-16-55.jpg

[sdibaja]

beauty is subjective... look and feel is very important

[lsemmens]

I figured I try Mate because xfce was giving me too many problems. I gotta say I'm liking it! Mate has changed a lot
in the last couple of years and the Cairo dock seems to be working great. I just might be in love again.

Screenshot at 2018-08-05 19-16-55.jpg

Now that is a pretty theme, maybe we should all develop a Telecaster DE and give Cinnamon the flick...............................................

[ud6]

I figured I try Mate because xfce was giving me too many problems. I gotta say I'm liking it! Mate has changed a lot
in the last couple of years and the Cairo dock seems to be working great. I just might be in love again.

Screenshot at 2018-08-05 19-16-55.jpg

Nice desktop. I tried Cairo and is very pretty but I'm just used to mate standard panel (though I make it almost completely transparent). Which brings me to my main point.. I guess when we say Mint is ugly, it is through comparison to mac and Windows. Personally I don't like either, and neither is as customisable as linux (I'm wondering what we're complaining about.. I spent yesterday evening making new folder icons for the sub folders I use at work so I can put them on retractable side panel on left of screen, speeding up productivity).

But to those that like win/mac, have they tried Zorin OS? (I haven't, but heard it is nice for those transferring from those OSs).