Tragedy of the Icon Sets

dtw · 2005-12-06 23:47:42

Would it be great if one icon set worked under all window managers and desktop environments?

Some times I wonder if the respective "bosses" do not maintain this incompatability as part of their strategy to maintain their userbase...

and then there was tango

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-07 00:11:02

Nice! 8) Not my favorite icons so far, but definitely better than the default Gnome and KDE stuff, and I like the ideas behind it.

Bralkein · 2005-12-07 00:18:39

I have seen the Tango icons before, and while I think it's a good idea, I'm not really a big fan of the theme. There's nothing really very good looking about the icons in the first place, in my opinion. Despite the fact that they have tried to seek a middle ground between GNOME and KDE (or so it seems) by making the colours a bit more saturated than on GNOME, the icons still somehow seem quite flat and boring. I think they would fit in quite well on a GNOME desktop, but KDE always seems somehow more vibrant and cartoony, so I do not think the icons would be as well suited there. Also, one major quibble with the appearence: The big yellow blob on all of the "New <item>" icons looks really crappy. It kind of reminds me of the lens flare from photoshop, only in cartoon form.

Take a look at the [URL=http://tango-project.org/Tango_Screenshots]screenshots[/URL]. Hopefully you can see what I mean about it not suiting KDE so well. I think the icons look pretty OK on the GNOME desktop there, but on the KDE one they just don't look like they belong, IMO.

I think the icon set for KDE 4, [URL=http://www.oxygen-icons.org/]Oxygen[/URL], looks a lot more exciting. There is only a preview available, because they are not finished I guess but also because the KDE 4 team want them to be fresh and exciting when they come out... but I think the preview looks a lot better than what the Tango project is coming up with.

It's quite a good aim to have a unified icon set in a way, but unless the distributors really pick up this Tango thing, I just don't see it happening. Also, even if you sort out the icon problem, KDE apps and GNOME apps still behave very differently in the way of menu structure, file selectors etc. In a way it is a good thing that you can easily tell them apart, so that you can know at a glance how the app is going to behave.

(Disclaimer: In case you haven't worked it out already, I'm a pretty big fan of KDE )

WillySilly · 2005-12-07 00:31:14

I've been using Tango since day one and a lot of the icons weren't as colorful as they are now. The folder icons used to be grey, not the best color IMHO
I personally think the Tango project is a great idea and it looks like its gaining support from application developers making icons for the project.

Cam · 2005-12-07 10:07:57

I'm not really a fan of those Oxygen icons personally, but they do look quality. My trick for not having issues with icons is to only use GTK apps and then all my icons look the same

dtw · 2005-12-07 14:43:13

As I understand it the actual iconset is only part of the deal - the philosophy, as I understand it, is to have all iconsets use one naming scheme across WM/DE - that way we can all use the same iconsets

dtw · 2005-12-07 14:44:35

Oh, and those Oxygen icons? YAWN!

arooaroo · 2005-12-07 15:01:37

I don't see it as that bad an issue. I mean, look at package management in Linux*, now that's a tragedy...

* Note, I said Linux, not Arch Linux. We have it pretty good. But, the situation as a whole over Linux is pretty bad. The only uniform situtation is compiling from source, and even that's not totally robust due to differences in file structure. Go Arch and its Anti-LFS ways! (jk)

xerverius · 2005-12-07 16:20:11

MM that Oxygen looks awsome.:P Well it must be sinds the creator for the Nuvola icons is in de dev. team.

dtw · 2005-12-07 16:45:39

Oh, that explains it. I hated Nuvola too.

shadowhand · 2005-12-07 20:22:28

Tango and Oxygen look a lot alike to me. Personally, I like the Tango icons a little bit more. Both are superior to Crystal and whatever the Gnome default is.

WillySilly · 2005-12-07 21:33:03

For all of those who want to use Tango I put it in [Community] last night

Bralkein · 2005-12-10 21:11:21

Hmm well I never liked Nuvola either, but I think Oxygen is cool. I guess it's all a matter of taste! I guess taste is really the big issue in the case of the GNOME-KDE divide. You can make as many cross-platform icon sets and themeing engines as you like, but at the end of the day there are simply too many differences in taste and philosophy between the DEs for there to ever be a truly consistent interface layout on the Linux desktop. Which is okay I guess, because there isn't really one on Windows either, just open up WMP and MS Office

Although I guess when KDE 4 comes out, it will kick so much arse that everybody will just stop using GNOME altogether. I also heard that it will cure blindness and impotence.

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-10 21:16:05

I dunno, by that time XOrg 7 will be out and Gnome will effectively have the same eyecandy capacity.

codergeek42 · 2005-12-11 07:49:32

...and then there was Bluecurve.

Bralkein · 2005-12-11 13:12:13

Hey, I was just reading KDE Dot, when I came across http://dot.kde.org/1134165541/113418143 … 134194011/ this interesting post. It seems that the unified icon naming scheme used by Tango is actually a Freedesktop.org naming standard, which is going to be used also in KDE 4 and with the Oxygen icon set. I guess this means that even if nobody uses Tango, there is still progress being made in the area of desktop harmonisation.

This is very good news I think, because if KDE and GNOME both adopt this icon naming standard, and it looks at like KDE will (so one would assume GNOME is going to as well, otherwise it would be pointless for KDE to do it), therefore hopefully in the nearish future, most icons will just work across both desktops! Cool!

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-11 15:03:00

Yep, I'd definitely like to see that.

shadowhand · 2005-12-11 17:09:49

Gullible Jones wrote:

Yep, I'd definitely like to see that.

Ditto. Hopefully Xfce will adopt this naming scheme too! 8)

Arch Linux

#1 2005-12-06 23:47:42

Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#2 2005-12-07 00:11:02

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#3 2005-12-07 00:18:39

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#4 2005-12-07 00:31:14

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#5 2005-12-07 10:07:57

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#6 2005-12-07 14:43:13

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#7 2005-12-07 14:44:35

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#8 2005-12-07 15:01:37

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#9 2005-12-07 16:20:11

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#10 2005-12-07 16:45:39

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#11 2005-12-07 20:22:28

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#12 2005-12-07 21:33:03

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#13 2005-12-10 21:11:21

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#14 2005-12-10 21:16:05

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#15 2005-12-11 07:49:32

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#16 2005-12-11 13:12:13

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#17 2005-12-11 15:03:00

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

#18 2005-12-11 17:09:49

Re: Tragedy of the Icon Sets

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