This is something that has bothered me for quite some time.. and it’s not really important, but it’s something that has chewed away at my consciousness since I first installed Linux.
When I installed Linux in 2005, it looked like this:
Linux has come a long way since then visually. We have Compiz now, for one. Linux has the potential to be beautiful, but also customizeable. But it’s having an identity crisis. The first thing people seem to do when they decide to change their Linux to suit them better is go to the internet and see what other users have created. They usually wind up on www.gnome-look.org. But there’s a problem. Let’s go through the 10 most popular Metacity themes for Gnome on gnome-look. The link above will bring you right to this list.
I’m not even going to touch KDE. KDE 3.5.x had a theme called Redmond that looks exactly like Windows, and KDE 4.x looks more and more like Vista with every release. So this is just Gnome. So let’s get started.
- This one isn’t so bad, actually. But the influences of Vista are apparent.
- This is where the fun begins. Can you say “looks like OS X?”
The author apparently disliked OSX's buttons.
- Repeat after me: OS X is prettier than Linux. OS X is prettier than Linux. Except the buttons.
OS X is also just a little too light.
- Noticing a pattern?
Are the stoplight buttons that bad?
- I’m out of snarky remarks about OS X.
This guy apparently only likes the buttons.
- This one looks like Vista, if Vista had come out in 1998. Let me remind the reader that these are the 10 most popular themes downloaded on www.gnome-look.org, which has more themes than one could ever peruse. This is what the people want. Apparently.
Number 6? Really? At least it's somewhat original.
- Repeat after me: Vista is uglier than OS X but prettier than Linux…
Man, this looks usable. I'd love to stare at this screen for hours.
That one isn’t just a Vista clone. The window decorations are Vista.. inspired.. to say the least, but the rest of it is great. Easily my favorite. It’s like what we all wanted computers to look like when we were eight, but wondered why they didn’t. This is why: it gives you a headache. It cuts down on screen space. It’s ugly. I digress.
- I’m still out of OS X jokes. Seriously.
Guys: OS X is really not that great. Seriously.
- FINALLY. This one is actually decent. And guess what? It’s either in the repos or included (I forget which) in Linux Mint. All I’m sure of is that I’ve seen it, and I didn’t download it from here. But: it’s very plain, and it’s.. frankly.. pretty ugly. At least it doesn’t look like Vista or OS X.
Of course, the one that doesn't look like a different OS would be a terminal screenshot. Wtf?
- And finally, number ten is… another OS X clone. This guy likes all of the OS X look though, the buttons and the monotone.
It's Tigeopard! The color of Leopard and the buttons of Tiger! YAY!!
oooh colors
I just hope that I’ve illustrated my point. It’s not that Linux doesn’t have a relatively distinctive look, at least in Gnome. KDE, as I said, just looks like Vista (as of version 4). A few distros have developed a look. Ubuntu is very identifiable (but ugly), Suse is identifiable (and pretty), and Fedora’s artwork team is doing some wonderful work. But the community needs to get with the program. If I wanted my OS to looks like Windows or Mac, I’d use Windows or Mac. I’m OK that these clones exist; it’s cool that it can be done, but why are 90% of user-made themes either clones or exactly the same with one little change? COME ON PEOPLE. Be original!
Linux deserves this. Go make some themes. Make them beautiful. Make them not like OS X, and not like Vista. Seriously.
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