aesthetics

[Jari Rahkonen]

jmak kirjoitti:
> On Sat, Aug 2, 2008 at 3:01 PM, Vincent <mailinglists at vinnl.nl> wrote:
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 7:38 PM, jmak <jozmak at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> Please read this article.
>>>
>>> http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9419
>>>
>>>  I have been advocating something similar since day one, but always
>>> ignored. We need to pay more attention to xubuntu's aesthetics.
>> The gist of that article as I see it is that not too many people should be
>> working on Ubuntu's artwok - and those who do, should be good at it. What
>> kind of reply do you expect here?
>>
> 
> Vincent,
> 
> I posted this link to draw attention to the visual features that
> should be given more priority in xubuntu.
> One component doesn't make the desktop "pretty" (like many people
> mistakenly believe, for instance wallpaper) but all the components
> (usplash, gdm, theme, icons, panel, fonts) together. Like in the
> symphony, every instruments have to work, in accord with each other
> 
> Yes, after so many years, they start realizing that the programmers
> paradigm doesn't work in art (that everyone does a bit and at the end
> put all the bits and pieces together). This method produces a horrible
> patchwork.
> 
> jmak
> 

I don't think this is anything new or that no-one has realised this
before. The fact of the matter is that there simply aren't enough
talented volunteer artists around with the required expertise,
motivation and time to work on our beloved open source projects and distros.

This isn't a problem for the big boys with the big budgets, as they can
always hire a team of professionals to take care of the matter. Projects
like Xubuntu with few contributors and no discernible budgets can only
hope that an artist, or, even less likely, artists with the means to
contribute happen to become interested enough in the project to do so.

So as I see it, it's all a matter of resources, or more specifically the
lack of them. Not that it's a wonder that open source projects attract
more coders and users than let's say graphical artists or sound
designers. This is evidenced by the fact that to my knowledge you are
and have been the only active artist in the Xubuntu team for quite a
while. It's certainly not because artists are actively discouraged from
joining the team.

I understand that this can make you frustrated, and that you feel the
need to draw attention to the matter, but I can't see how this helps in
any way. You have pointed out problems and vague sketches of an optimal
situation, but no way to get there from here. Solutions and the
resources to implement them are what Xubuntu needs, not stating the obvious.

I (and I'm sure I'm not the only one) would love to help you realise
your vision to it's full extent, if only I had the time and the talent.
Unless you can find someone who does, I have to say that this discussion
is a bit pointless. But please do not let your frustration stop you from
working on Xubuntu, as I'm sure the recent attention garnered by open
source graphical tools like Inkscape and the Gimp will eventually bring
more artistic talent to communities like this. There is certainly hope
of a brighter future on this front.


Until then, keep up the good work,

- Jari