3 ms·

"don't theme my app" is not about users theming their apps, but instead against distros theming by default and more importantly the expectation that you could t

"don't theme my app" is not about users theming their apps, but instead against distros theming by default and more importantly the expectation that you could theme every app with a generic theme.

pwdisswordfishc 3y ago
Same difference. If you don’t support theming done by distros, you don’t support theming full stop. I suspect even their attitude towards theming done by end-users is more akin to ‘well sure, if you insist, you have the full source code, I can’t stop you, but you’re on your own’ than considering it a fully supported configuration.
- hju22_-3 3y ago
  Hard disagree with your first paragraph. An application can have endless customization abilities, but still doesn't need to let the system choose a theme for it to support "full theming" as you put it. There can also be legitimate reasons not to support it. On the top of my head, for example, the default theme being the most tested, etc., etc. In a perfect world, they'd all be tested and well integrated, but there's limited man power going around, and the world isn't perfect. Though I otherwise agree.
bluGill 3y ago
Distros SHOULD be theming all applications. Once thing a distro can do well is create a theme for their distro so everything looks the same. Maybe distros are not doing a good job of this, but that is one thing they have the power to do. QT, GTK2, SDL, wxwidgets, and more toolkits I can't even think of should all fit together on my desktop and look the same. xfce, gnome, and kde all have some nice apps, they should mix and match. This is a HARD problem, but that isn't an excuse to not face it.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  > Distros SHOULD be theming all applications. Once thing a distro can do well is create a theme for their distro so everything looks the same. I would reject a distro that did this (unless I could disable it). But users should be able to make everything look the way that works the best for them.
  - bluGill 3y ago
    Wait, we haven't even seen this theme or how well it is done and you already reject it?
    - JohnFen 3y ago
      Yes, because there is no way such a thing could be done that would be great for everyone. Different people have different needs.
- asoneth 3y ago
  I would also like to live in a world where it is easy for end-users and distros to theme apps. But with current technologies and cultural expectations this results in an untenable testing and support burden on app developers. We could shift cultural expectations so that distro maintainers become the first tier of support for all app issues in their distro, and escalate issues to app developers if and only if they've confirmed that the issue is distro-agnostic. That would be sustainable for app developers but could be a heavy burden for small distro teams. > This is a HARD problem, but that isn't an excuse to not face it. Agreed, I just don't think it's the responsibility of app developers to solve.

"don't theme my app" is not about users theming their apps, but instead against distros theming by default and more importantly the expectation that you could theme every app with a generic theme.

pwdisswordfishc 3y ago

Same difference. If you don’t support theming done by distros, you don’t support theming full stop. I suspect even their attitude towards theming done by end-users is more akin to ‘well sure, if you insist, you have the full source code, I can’t stop you, but you’re on your own’ than considering it a fully supported configuration.

hju22_-3 3y ago
Hard disagree with your first paragraph. An application can have endless customization abilities, but still doesn't need to let the system choose a theme for it to support "full theming" as you put it. There can also be legitimate reasons not to support it. On the top of my head, for example, the default theme being the most tested, etc., etc. In a perfect world, they'd all be tested and well integrated, but there's limited man power going around, and the world isn't perfect. Though I otherwise agree.

bluGill 3y ago

Distros SHOULD be theming all applications. Once thing a distro can do well is create a theme for their distro so everything looks the same. Maybe distros are not doing a good job of this, but that is one thing they have the power to do. QT, GTK2, SDL, wxwidgets, and more toolkits I can't even think of should all fit together on my desktop and look the same. xfce, gnome, and kde all have some nice apps, they should mix and match. This is a HARD problem, but that isn't an excuse to not face it.

JohnFen 3y ago
> Distros SHOULD be theming all applications. Once thing a distro can do well is create a theme for their distro so everything looks the same. I would reject a distro that did this (unless I could disable it). But users should be able to make everything look the way that works the best for them.
- bluGill 3y ago
  Wait, we haven't even seen this theme or how well it is done and you already reject it?
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    Yes, because there is no way such a thing could be done that would be great for everyone. Different people have different needs.
asoneth 3y ago
I would also like to live in a world where it is easy for end-users and distros to theme apps. But with current technologies and cultural expectations this results in an untenable testing and support burden on app developers. We could shift cultural expectations so that distro maintainers become the first tier of support for all app issues in their distro, and escalate issues to app developers if and only if they've confirmed that the issue is distro-agnostic. That would be sustainable for app developers but could be a heavy burden for small distro teams. > This is a HARD problem, but that isn't an excuse to not face it. Agreed, I just don't think it's the responsibility of app developers to solve.