[ubuntu-art] GTK-theme proposal

[Julian Oliver]

..on or around Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 03:43:10PM -0500 Jonathan Motes wrote: 
> Hey guys, I know I don't post here that often but I've been following the
> various mockups and themes, and I have to say and this one is the first that
> is really pleasing to me. Keep up the good work!
> 
> I also wanted to say that I don't have a problem with the minimize,
> maximize, and close buttons appearing "Vista-ish". People need to have an
> operating system that bears some similarity to what they are used to in
> order to feel comfortable with it. I really think this design would be a
> real winner for people coming from Vista. Just my two cents....

i disagree with this. the message it actually sends out is one of a lack
of preparedness - or capacity - to come up with our own fresh ideas.
that which emulates, flatters: what those buttons say is "Vista does it
right, we agree". 

the primary question to ask is: is that the best we can do? if we don't
ask this question, you can be sure other people looking at Ubuntu will
ask it for us..

even if there were droves of people running from Vista to Ubuntu, it
shouldn't be a bridge OS from Windows into *nix. Ubuntu should represent
/itself/ as a coherent and individual expression of possibility. this
expression of confidence happens primarily on an aesthetic level for
non-technical adopters. it is the only basis by which they can trust
that the developers knew what they were doing. a bold, well-implemented
visual identity is a fast-track to that confidence.

anyway, they are just buttons for goodness sakes: minimise, maximise,
close. to satisfy that basic pre-requisite - keeping usability in mind -
is all that's required for someone to feel perfectly at home after the
first trial click. i've seen many buttons posted to this list that look
superior to those Vista buttons while serving the desktop image with
greater sympathy.

if i thought another operating system sucked less than Debian or Ubuntu,
i would certainly use it. visually communicating that we know - and
invest in - that Ubuntu is a great platform of diverse application is
the challenge here. anything short of that is selling that investment
out, IMHO.

cheers,

-- 
julian oliver
http://julianoliver.com
http://selectparks.net
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