Re: splash screen session and theme

[Shaun ONeil <shaun dog-berry net>]

On Wed, 2003-02-26 at 13:36, Manuel Amador (Rudd-O) wrote:
> Bill Haneman wrote:
> 
> >>>How about making the splash screen image part of the icon theme?  That 
> >>>way you can use the icon theme lookup functions to find the file.  This 
> >>>way the standard splash screen could be part of the "gnome" theme in 
> >>>gnome-icon-theme, and it would be inherited by all the other gnome icon 
> >>>themes automatically.  Also, icon themes could choose a splash image 
> >>>that matched the program icons it displays along the bottom edge while 
> >>>the session loads.
> >>>      
> >>>
> >>If you go down that path, why not make the default desktop background
> >>part of the icon theme?
> >>
> Well, it should.  (DON'T FLAME PLEASE)  Windows' theme manager has a 
> background for themes <- evidently, only when the theme includes a 
> background.  I'd like to distribute a "DragonFear theme" (my personal 
> look/feel/works) that included a background image, and be applied when 
> metatheme is used.
> Including the splash screen theme into the metathemes would be a good 
> idea, in my opinion.  Perhaps having a separate splash theme capplet to 
> revert to the default theme is a solution?  We have to remember users 
> may like the idea of portions of the theme being applied.
> 
> >>
> >>If you went down this path, you'd probably have to rename icon theme to
> >>"Picture theme" or "Image theme" in all user visible areas (there is a
> >>_long_ bug about the difference between these 2 and I can't remember
> >>what the difference is).
> >>
> If it only changed the icons, no renaming would be needed.
> 
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >Perhaps it would be reasonable to put splash-screen and background-image
> >in a single Theme page?  I agree that those two seem more closely
> >related.
> >
> I'd have to argue against the idea, because the startup splash screen is 
> a process that runs on startup, and the background you get to see the 
> rest of the time.  People are accustomed to have a "background" or 
> "desktop" setting applet, and I for one don't see the relation between 
> these two concepts and a splash screen.
> 
> I figure that as there are icon themes and window manager themes and 
> splash screen themes, they should be considered separate components of a 
> metatheme, and have their own way of being changed, after applying a 
> metatheme.
> 
> Please, please correct me if I'm talking big piles of garbage.  Luck!

Although I would like to see the background in the theme manager (it's
all appearance, which is what we're theming, right?) .. I personally
don't feel the splash screen has any place there.  While every man and
his dog likes their own background, there's only two groups (as far as I
see) that want to theme their startup screens to match - vendors /
distributors, for whom simply replacing the gnome-splash file is
perfect, and tweakers, for whom the gconf key is fine.

The "everybody else" would have no need for such a setting, and are
(imho) who Gnome is aiming at.

My two cents, 

  Shaun.