[arch-general] Gnome/Gtk-2.0 BLING! (list of surprisingly cool themes)

[Philipp Überbacher]

Excerpts from David C. Rankin's message of 2010-08-21 05:00:46 +0200:
> On 08/19/2010 07:16 PM, Philipp Überbacher wrote:
> > Hey,
> > I tried the favorites there, but wasn't blown away. Basically all of
> > them have usability issues.
> > However, I had a look today and found one I really like. The only issue
> > I found with it so far is minor (active tab in firefox could be better
> > visible). Thought I let you know.
> >
> > http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=33246
> >
> > I use WaspLogin (this variant has dark background in filemanagers) with
> > some GNOME icons now, and really love it.
> >
> > Regards,
> > -- Philipp
> 
>     Whow... old post. Yep I agree those themes were pretty much yesterday. Mix and 
> match the following new list of favorites. Just grab them from my box:

I did remember such a thread, and that's what my mail client came up
with. Didn't notice that it was half a year old..

> Aeternum:
> http://www.3111skyline.com/dl/dt/gnome/gtk/Aeternum.tar.gz

Doesn't show up in my theme choosers.

> AnimaNera:
> http://www.3111skyline.com/dl/dt/gnome/gtk/AnimaNera.tar.gz

Not bad, I didn't find any severe issues, it's just really black, so
some widgets are almost impossible to see unless highlighted. Example:
Aqualung balance/volume/progress sliders. Among the really really dark
themes this one seems to be pretty good :)

> Darkness (rgba true)
> http://www.3111skyline.com/dl/dt/gnome/gtk/Darkness_GTK2_(rgba_true)_v1.3b.tar.gz
> 
> Darkness (rgba false)
> http://www.3111skyline.com/dl/dt/gnome/gtk/Darkness_GTK2_(rgba_false)_v1.3b.tar.gz

No problem seeing those sliders with this one, since they appear white,
but it fails my ROX filer keyboard navigation test. It's very very hard
to see where you are with the keyboard 'cursor'. Well, with most other
dark themes it's invisible :)
It's also hard to see which tab is active in FF.

>     The rest in that directory are pretty good as well. Then drop by my deviantART 
> page and grab the dcrExtrude emerald theme if you use compiz with emerald 
> decorations. I really like that one.
> 
> http://drankinatty.deviantart.com/gallery

I use no such stuff, no gnome, compiz or any other fancy stuff. I just
like themes I can still look at at night. The problem is that most dark
themes fail to provide the one or other visual cue and this way make
some programs hard to use. I haven't seen the perfectly usable theme
yet, and bright ones fail as well as dark ones. So my main concern is
usability over prettiness, and I like simple clean stuff, no bling.
Ironically it's the WaspLogin theme, something probably written for some
login manager or something, that fits best so far.

I was contemplating writing my own or modifying a theme, but let's say
when I did this for a program I had to name the theme 'illegal'.

>     Then actually visit the galleries of people that know what they are doing with 
> gtk theme design:
> 
> http://lagadesk.deviantart.com/gallery
> http://mk64.deviantart.com/gallery
> 
>     For icons see:
> 
> http://bluepal.deviantart.com/gallery/

Too much bling for my taste.
Icons must convey the meaning at any size, what I've seen there is ill
suited.

>     That will get you some of the current stuff I've found. Then you can shoot it 
> full of holes :p

Thanks for the suggestions David, the AnimaNera theme is certainly
usable. I find it too dark for day usage but I'll try it again at night.

Regards,
-- 
Philipp

--
"Wir stehen selbst enttäuscht und sehn betroffen / Den Vorhang zu
und alle Fragen offen." Bertolt Brecht, Der gute Mensch von Sezuan