Just quick notes because this is getting lengthy (and we'd better get the stuff done ;) ).
On 2007-October-30 , at 04:28 , bulia byak wrote:
On 10/29/07, jiho <jo.irisson@...400...> wrote:
The biggest default of the Tango icons (apparently) is that they are less contrasted than the current set... which some could view as a quality of being less disturbing but that's a whole other story ;) Anyway, contrast could be improved in the Tango ones. They need to be tweaked anyway to fit Inkscape's pixel size requirements so tweaking them a bit more should not be a problem in itself.
Any tweaking is work. A lot of work. With 750+ unclosed bugs, I really think we have more important things to do right now than improving some proposed poor icon set when our current one is already better.
I completely agree with that but I just think that closing bugs and improving icons (or documentation, or translations etc.) simply does not involve the same persons. People with no programming skills can help there and it won't drain manpower away from bug closing. On the contrary, I even think it can get people involved in the project and maybe, in time, turn them into bug squashers.
I think the unification of UI is not so much a matter of comparing Inskcape with Gimp and Scribus but rather Inkscape with the rest of GTK (and even QT) apps out there.
The more apps you compare, the less meaningful is the comparison. We have a number of tools that are similar with Gimp, less so with Scribus, and still less for other apps. In the end, it's just the standard Save and Open icons that are truly common to all apps; everything else is very different in purpose and scope.
Once again, I am not necessarily advocating using the exact same icons (except for Open, Save and such indeed) but rather draw icons that visually fit Tango ones. Tango icons of the ArtLibre set have the merit of being there already and can be used as a base but the overall goal is really purely visual: to have Inkscape blend in nicely, particularly on Linux but also on other systems. It may seem futile but if there are enough people willing to put time in it, why not? And of course I don't personally think it is as futile as it may seem. Having a unified, consistent UI is, in part, what differentiates a "desktop" from a bunch of unrelated applications, each running in its own direction. It is what make me like OS X. It is what I would like to see on Linux. Of course the point of a Desktop is to have apps interacting nicely and behaving the same way, not just "look" the same. The look can appear to be secondary but once again, it just does not involve the same people. So if some can make the look consistent while other tackle the more profound behavioral part (verse plugins etc.), that's all benefit isn't it?
My last point is probably just a matter of taste (and I may well have bad taste ;)) but I find the Tango theme more pleasant visually than the current set. Even if I agree that the current set does its job well, I find it very flashy and cartoonesque with its bunch of colors and black outlines. Working with icons that are less catchy, more subtle in their colors and gradients, makes it easier to focus on the canvas, where the real stuff happens, than on the rest of the interface.
I agree, but Tango does not achieve this goal IMHO. It's too half-way, too inconsistent in itself, too clunky and plain boring. Instead, what I always dreamed of (maybe one day when I don't have anything better to do in Inkscape...) is an alternative set with purely B/W icons. Not even grayscale, but B/W, with everything expressed via pure shape and outline. If well done, it can look very stylish and unique. But Tango seems to me like a watered-down milk: why drink that if you can have pure milk or pure water instead?
Nice analogy. Well, it is really a matter of taste. I actually know people who prefer watery, cream-free milk ;). I personally quite like Tango icons. I would also love a pure black and white or subtle gray theme. Tango goes the pastel way. It is a sensible choice to keep color for most apps and it is already an improvement over flashy colors with no predefined palette. Improvement is a step-by-step process.
JiHO --- http://jo.irisson.free.fr/