4 ms·

So, what’s with Linux and margins? I thought they had solved that by now but nope, the margins are still all over the place, inconsistent and visually distracti

by ugh 15y ago

So, what’s with Linux and margins? I thought they had solved that by now but nope, the margins are still all over the place, inconsistent and visually distracting. I feel this is even more apparent now that they dialed up the margins even more.

rbanffy 15y ago
You know, everything you see on most GUIs (Gnome is not Linux-only, you know) is themable. If you feel inclined to help the designers make a prettier interface, you can easily find information on how to actually help.
- ugh 15y ago
  Nah, thank you. I think I will rather just continue buying my OS. I’m not really willing to invest more time than just trying it out from time to time nor do I understand why I should be.
  - tree_of_item 15y ago
    So, to answer your original question, "What's with Linux and margins?": The people who don't like margins don't want to help. Now you know.
    - ugh 15y ago
      So basically the process of making a free and open OS is – sadly – broken.
      - rbanffy 15y ago
        Not at all. It works fine for me and for all the people who use it and, eventually, make actual, real, contributions to the product. Your opinion has been noted and, if someone cares enough, the problem will be fixed. If nobody cares, it's your problem and yours only: if you don't solve it, nobody will.
        ugh 15y ago
        I would still call that broken. Sure, a lot of stuff works but some things just suck.
        rbanffy 15y ago
        I still don't care
chao- 15y ago
Please excuse my question, as I am quite design-inept, and often have no problem with whatever visuals are presented. I'm trying to figure out which margins are worthy of ire or inconsistent, for the sake of my own improvement on such visual matters. The only difference/inconsistency that leaps out at me is that between the content of a window and its border, in which case there seems to be a clear divide between popup/info windows ("Save a Copy", "Color", "Online Accounts") and the more persistent, full-application windows ("Contacts", "Documents" and the image viewer). There are differences between the spacing of other UI elements, for sure, but I don't really understand why one element should or should not be placed a consistent distance away from another. E.g. in the "Online Accounts" window, the All Settings button has identical top and bottom margins, but it is a different margin from left margin, as well as different from the margin between the white box in the pane below, and its container. Which of these, if any, would you change and why?
- exogen 15y ago
  I personally wouldn't cite margins as the biggest visual flaw, but rather alignment in general, followed by contrast. The very first screenshot on the page is a very awkward dialog: http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/gnome-online-accounts.png.en http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/gnom... * "Use this account for" runs uncomfortably close to the account list. It looks bad. Couldn't they just put that whitespace on the right to use? * The switch labels (Mail, Calendar...) are aligned with the Email Address label, but the switches themselves aren't aligned with the email value (ovitters@...). The implicit grid is broken. * Someone was too lazy to style the email address in the selected state of the account list (dark gray on medium blue). There's not enough contrast to easily read it. http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/gnome-contacts.png.en http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/gnom... * This is the Contacts app whose sole purpose is to view a person's details. Why are their only details (Away, mail@example.com) the tiniest words on the screen? * Letter placement in the contacts list (A, C, D) looks reckless and noisy. Horizontally, its margins are not equal. Vertically, it appears arbitrary. It would look better if they were horizontally centered and vertically on the baseline of the contact's name. * The letters (A, C, D) also have too much contrast; they should be lighter. They're a visual hint, not an area of focus. http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/file-save-dialog.png.en http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/file... * Why is the filetype selector only wide enough to show "PDF Docume..."? There is a ton of space. http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/color-management.png.en http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/colo... * None of these buttons have enough padding around the label when compared to the buttons in other dialogs. * Why are the lower buttons all squished together? Most of these can't be fixed by theming, because they were caused by the dialog creators themselves. In short, there is a lack of attention to detail. :)

by ugh 15y ago

rbanffy 15y ago

You know, everything you see on most GUIs (Gnome is not Linux-only, you know) is themable. If you feel inclined to help the designers make a prettier interface, you can easily find information on how to actually help.

ugh 15y ago
Nah, thank you. I think I will rather just continue buying my OS. I’m not really willing to invest more time than just trying it out from time to time nor do I understand why I should be.
- tree_of_item 15y ago
  So, to answer your original question, "What's with Linux and margins?": The people who don't like margins don't want to help. Now you know.
  - ugh 15y ago
    So basically the process of making a free and open OS is – sadly – broken.
    - rbanffy 15y ago
      Not at all. It works fine for me and for all the people who use it and, eventually, make actual, real, contributions to the product. Your opinion has been noted and, if someone cares enough, the problem will be fixed. If nobody cares, it's your problem and yours only: if you don't solve it, nobody will.
      - ugh 15y ago
        I would still call that broken. Sure, a lot of stuff works but some things just suck.
        rbanffy 15y ago
        I still don't care

chao- 15y ago

Please excuse my question, as I am quite design-inept, and often have no problem with whatever visuals are presented. I'm trying to figure out which margins are worthy of ire or inconsistent, for the sake of my own improvement on such visual matters. The only difference/inconsistency that leaps out at me is that between the content of a window and its border, in which case there seems to be a clear divide between popup/info windows ("Save a Copy", "Color", "Online Accounts") and the more persistent, full-application windows ("Contacts", "Documents" and the image viewer). There are differences between the spacing of other UI elements, for sure, but I don't really understand why one element should or should not be placed a consistent distance away from another. E.g. in the "Online Accounts" window, the All Settings button has identical top and bottom margins, but it is a different margin from left margin, as well as different from the margin between the white box in the pane below, and its container. Which of these, if any, would you change and why?

exogen 15y ago
I personally wouldn't cite margins as the biggest visual flaw, but rather alignment in general, followed by contrast. The very first screenshot on the page is a very awkward dialog: http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/gnome-online-accounts.png.en http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/gnom... * "Use this account for" runs uncomfortably close to the account list. It looks bad. Couldn't they just put that whitespace on the right to use? * The switch labels (Mail, Calendar...) are aligned with the Email Address label, but the switches themselves aren't aligned with the email value (ovitters@...). The implicit grid is broken. * Someone was too lazy to style the email address in the selected state of the account list (dark gray on medium blue). There's not enough contrast to easily read it. http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/gnome-contacts.png.en http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/gnom... * This is the Contacts app whose sole purpose is to view a person's details. Why are their only details (Away, mail@example.com) the tiniest words on the screen? * Letter placement in the contacts list (A, C, D) looks reckless and noisy. Horizontally, its margins are not equal. Vertically, it appears arbitrary. It would look better if they were horizontally centered and vertically on the baseline of the contact's name. * The letters (A, C, D) also have too much contrast; they should be lighter. They're a visual hint, not an area of focus. http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/file-save-dialog.png.en http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/file... * Why is the filetype selector only wide enough to show "PDF Docume..."? There is a ton of space. http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/color-management.png.en http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.2/figures/colo... * None of these buttons have enough padding around the label when compared to the buttons in other dialogs. * Why are the lower buttons all squished together? Most of these can't be fixed by theming, because they were caused by the dialog creators themselves. In short, there is a lack of attention to detail. :)