Re: why are there no themes for galeon? and is galeon 1.3 cooler than 1.2, let's vote

on Tue, Mar 15, 2005 at 01:55:36PM -0500, Adam Hooper ([email protected]) wrote:
> On Tue, 2005-03-15 at 11:42 -0700, ben wrote:
> > > This is as it should be.  We've finally succeeded in getting some
> > > uniformity.
> > 
> > Any computer that is used for anything other than tweaking its look
> > and feel is going to run non-Gnome apps.  I haven't yet decided
> > where I fall on the "7 of the 44 apps you run should look the same"
> > vs. "each app for herself" spectrum.  A developer is welcome to say
> > "I developed the app this way because this is where I fall along
> > that line", but to say where all users should fall on that spectrum
> > is a little, um, arrogant?  With all respect...
> 
> Actually, as a developer and student and user, I can affirm that I use
> GNOME apps almost exclusively. There are minor exceptions (embedded PDF
> viewing with xpdf, DVI viewing with xdvi), but besides those, all my
> apps have the same look. Even Eclipse.

Which I suppose means that I've been using Unix since you were in
diapers, if not before.  And I'm hardly one of the older hands at this
stuff.

I've seen a few generations of 'Nix GUI come (and sometimes go),
including none (CLI only), Athena, twm / fvwm / Openlook, Motif, VUE,
CDE, NeXT, and the various GNU/Linux desktops.  To say nothing of
various scripting front-ends, including Tk/Tcl, and related.

One thing you've got to realize is that GUI toolkits have an amazing
level of tenacity -- once created, there are apps that use them, and
will continue to be used.  Not just your standard utility apps -- say,
ghostview/gv, xpdf, and emacs -- but proprietary applications which
adopt a given toolkit....and continue to use it for years.  This stuff
sticks like no stain, reputation, lover, or spawn you've ever
experienced.

Nobody owns the Unix / GNU/Linux desktop, and for those of us who've
been on "owned" systems, this is a good thing.  We've got apps which are
desktop independent, desktops which are application independent, and a
windowing system which is network transparent -- and this isn't an
mistake.  People more-or-less wanted it that way.

There's a lot to be said for a healthy development community in which
multiple toolkits exist and interact.  Including the fact that if
GNOME^W one community gets its collective head up its collective ass,
another can demonstrate that, well, actually, there's another way to do
things, and actually, it's where most users / admins / developers / ISVs
would rather be.  This isn't Jobs's Mac or Gate's 'Doze or Gasse's Be.
It's GNU/Linux.  UI unification Just Ain't Gonna Happen.  Deal with it.
And make sure your environment is happy with that.


In another ten or fifteen years you might have the beginnings of an
appreciation for this.


Peace.

-- 
Karsten M. Self <[email protected]>        http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
 What Part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?
   Integrity, we've heard of it:  http://www.theregister.co.uk/

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