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It's been a long time since I last installed a theme of any kind. In my past experiences, there was always aesthetic jank at the "boundaries" of themed vs unthe

It's been a long time since I last installed a theme of any kind. In my past experiences, there was always aesthetic jank at the "boundaries" of themed vs unthemed elements. The "Fix for libadwaita (not perfect)" subheading doesn't inspire confidence - not a knock on this specific theme, just one of the hazards of theming in general.

hollerith 2y ago
Also, plugins (and themes) have a short expected lifetime on Gnome because it is tedious for a maintainer to adapt the plugin to the high rate of churn in Gnome.
- cosmic_cheese 2y ago
  IIRC GNOME also doesn’t have much of an official plugin API, which makes the situation that much worse. Plugins just have to tinker with GNOME internals and hope for the best.
  - jeroenhd 2y ago
    There is an extension API: https://gjs.guide/extensions/development/creating.html https://gjs.guide/extensions/development/creating.html The API isn't guaranteed to be backwards compatible, though, so you do need to occasionally update your extension code when a new version of Gnome comes out.
al_borland 2y ago
My issue tends to be that themes that try to emulate a different OS can only do it in style, not in function. So while a screenshot might look similar, it won't function in the same way as the OS it's trying to be, which leads to compromises all over the place... and the aforementioned jank. Gnome, for example, doesn't have a minimize concept. There is an extension to add it, but it's janky and feels weird. No amount of theming is going to change this, when the underlying system wasn't designed around it.
- exe34 2y ago
  I could live with the jank and functionality if it would stay consistent over time - but you know it's going to be broken at the next GNOME update, and the next version won't just suck more, but the theme will also not quite work anymore and it's like multiple papercuts every time. Nowadays I have xmonad, xterm and emacs and a few gnome apps but I would replace them in a heartbeat if they annoyed me enough.
  - andrepd 2y ago
    Breaking UI and functionality for no reason whatsoever, with no option to change it back, often with mandatory updates, is one of my #1 pet peeves with modern software.
    - exe34 2y ago
      in an alternate universe, most software would come with a core part that does all the specific work and the UI would connect to it with a fixed interface, and you'd be able to swap out whatever you want.
- jorvi 2y ago
  Gnome does have a minimize concept? It's just hidden (haha) by default. gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout ":minimize,maximize,close"
- cosmic_cheese 2y ago
  For GNOME, the bigger problem in my opinion is no option for a global menubar. Though there are similarities between macOS toolbars and GNOME headerbars, the former isn’t bearing nearly as much of a load as the latter is because Mac toolbars don't need to cover every function an app provides. Less-used/niche functions just don’t get a button and instead live tucked away neatly in one of any number of menus at the top of the screen. On the other hand in GNOME apps, if a function isn’t used often enough to earn a spot in the app’s headerbar or hamburger menu it just gets tossed, because otherwise the hamburger menu becomes long and unusable. This results in less functional apps that are not as well equipped to keep up with growth in the user’s skill.
OsrsNeedsf2P 2y ago
This is true for most Gnome themes, but I used Chicago95 (on XFCE) for 3 years and could count the "jank" on one hand: https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95 https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
- rbanffy 2y ago
  I know there is no accounting for taste, but... If I wanted the 90's back, I'd go with OpenLook or IRIX's theme.
mystifyingpoi 2y ago
I remember the massive PITA that was running KDE with Gnome apps (or vice versa). The eyesore was unbelievable, and the official fixes required installing extra bridge themes, that tried to unify the look of everything, which of course wasn't perfect. This is better now, but even in 2025 GParted looks wrong under KDE, and this is sad.
- pjerem 2y ago
  > even in 2025 GParted looks wrong under KDE, and this is sad. I did care a lot about this 10-15 years ago. Unfortunately, somehow I don’t even notice this anymore. In 2025, and thanks to web apps, everything looks wrong on my desktop. It doesn’t help that I’m a developer and that basically not any single modern IDE / text editor cares about looking native. Even Firefox and Thunderbird aren’t looking integrated anymore.
- Fnoord 2y ago
  Qt has been having good compatibility for Gtk for a long, long time. The other way around not so much.
ahoka 2y ago
“Fix” means hack here. GNOME and libadwaita does not officially support changing the theme like this.

hollerith 2y ago

Also, plugins (and themes) have a short expected lifetime on Gnome because it is tedious for a maintainer to adapt the plugin to the high rate of churn in Gnome.

cosmic_cheese 2y ago
IIRC GNOME also doesn’t have much of an official plugin API, which makes the situation that much worse. Plugins just have to tinker with GNOME internals and hope for the best.
- jeroenhd 2y ago
  There is an extension API: https://gjs.guide/extensions/development/creating.html https://gjs.guide/extensions/development/creating.html The API isn't guaranteed to be backwards compatible, though, so you do need to occasionally update your extension code when a new version of Gnome comes out.

al_borland 2y ago

My issue tends to be that themes that try to emulate a different OS can only do it in style, not in function. So while a screenshot might look similar, it won't function in the same way as the OS it's trying to be, which leads to compromises all over the place... and the aforementioned jank. Gnome, for example, doesn't have a minimize concept. There is an extension to add it, but it's janky and feels weird. No amount of theming is going to change this, when the underlying system wasn't designed around it.

exe34 2y ago
I could live with the jank and functionality if it would stay consistent over time - but you know it's going to be broken at the next GNOME update, and the next version won't just suck more, but the theme will also not quite work anymore and it's like multiple papercuts every time. Nowadays I have xmonad, xterm and emacs and a few gnome apps but I would replace them in a heartbeat if they annoyed me enough.
- andrepd 2y ago
  Breaking UI and functionality for no reason whatsoever, with no option to change it back, often with mandatory updates, is one of my #1 pet peeves with modern software.
  - exe34 2y ago
    in an alternate universe, most software would come with a core part that does all the specific work and the UI would connect to it with a fixed interface, and you'd be able to swap out whatever you want.
jorvi 2y ago
Gnome does have a minimize concept? It's just hidden (haha) by default. gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout ":minimize,maximize,close"
cosmic_cheese 2y ago
For GNOME, the bigger problem in my opinion is no option for a global menubar. Though there are similarities between macOS toolbars and GNOME headerbars, the former isn’t bearing nearly as much of a load as the latter is because Mac toolbars don't need to cover every function an app provides. Less-used/niche functions just don’t get a button and instead live tucked away neatly in one of any number of menus at the top of the screen. On the other hand in GNOME apps, if a function isn’t used often enough to earn a spot in the app’s headerbar or hamburger menu it just gets tossed, because otherwise the hamburger menu becomes long and unusable. This results in less functional apps that are not as well equipped to keep up with growth in the user’s skill.

OsrsNeedsf2P 2y ago

This is true for most Gnome themes, but I used Chicago95 (on XFCE) for 3 years and could count the "jank" on one hand: https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95 https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95

rbanffy 2y ago
I know there is no accounting for taste, but... If I wanted the 90's back, I'd go with OpenLook or IRIX's theme.

mystifyingpoi 2y ago

I remember the massive PITA that was running KDE with Gnome apps (or vice versa). The eyesore was unbelievable, and the official fixes required installing extra bridge themes, that tried to unify the look of everything, which of course wasn't perfect. This is better now, but even in 2025 GParted looks wrong under KDE, and this is sad.

pjerem 2y ago
> even in 2025 GParted looks wrong under KDE, and this is sad. I did care a lot about this 10-15 years ago. Unfortunately, somehow I don’t even notice this anymore. In 2025, and thanks to web apps, everything looks wrong on my desktop. It doesn’t help that I’m a developer and that basically not any single modern IDE / text editor cares about looking native. Even Firefox and Thunderbird aren’t looking integrated anymore.
Fnoord 2y ago
Qt has been having good compatibility for Gtk for a long, long time. The other way around not so much.

ahoka 2y ago

“Fix” means hack here. GNOME and libadwaita does not officially support changing the theme like this.