I am kind of anti-theme

["Max Watson" <removeme_redline pdq net>]

Hello All -
	I would just like to say that I have concerns over the direction 
GNOME development has taken regarding themes. If I am incorrect in 
any of these assumptions, please put my mind at rest.

My first worry is that it will be difficult to support, for 
both freeware and especially commercial, an application written for a 
desktop where the whole super-configurable "themes" thing is in 
effect. I can just imagine the tech support call (or frantic email): 
"The program just dumps core when I move my pointer of that little 
round  thing that highlights like a dashboard from a '57 Chevy." or 
"The help file says click on the button that says 'Send' but my theme 
is lilac on neon green and I can't see what the buttons are labeled."
I guess that I am kind of insulted too, that I (as a program 
designer) can put a lot of effort into the visual layout and general 
aesthetics of a program I labor over for day, months, or years, and 
some bonehead can come along and turn my attractive and intuitive 
interface into the front of a Sony Discman(tm). I have never 
found stereo equipment so fascinating that I would want to stare at 
it all day on my screen.
	Here is something else I have been wondering: Since Red Hat has that 
whole RH Labs thing going on with Raster working on GNOME, and Raster 
also being the developer of Enlightenment, can I assume that RH will 
ship GNOME as the standard desktop in their distribution? If so, will 
E be the wm they ship? I am guessing that E will be the first (if not 
the only) wm to be GNOME aware/compliant/whatever. Are any other wm 
maintainers working with GNOME? Does scwm still plan on providing 
GNOME support? So many people use RH, and it is often used as a 
reference for software requirements (Redhat Linux 4.2 or equivalent, 
etc.), that whatever wm they choose will be the one many, many people 
use. It does not matter that you can remove it and install another 
that is GNOME-aware or even one that is not, most people still will 
never be able to do it, or they will be too lazy to be bothered with 
the hassle. So I guess my real question is will there at least be a 
"normal" looking theme that looks and acts pretty much how all 
current popular GUIs act? Businesses do use Linux (and RH) a lot, 
and they would not really need the theme-ability. They could use a 
nice (serious)  desktop, though..  I actually have written my first 
(and last) Enlightenment theme based on gtk/GNOME's current motif-ish 
look. Just in case. :)		
	Last thing, I am insane about the current look of gtk (and GNOME). I 
have always liked the motif look. I guess qt and gtk prove that lots 
of other people feel the same. The mouse-over highlighting used to 
bother me ( gimp 0.60 anyone?), but it has really grown on me, and I 
really miss it when it is not there. Not only that, but is is the 
sharpest of the motif-ish toolkits. When I have run a kde app (eg 
kedit), it looks so slick sitting there with the browserish 
interface, all serious and complete looking. Then, I click the (very 
pretty) "Open" button and I am presented with one of the ugliest file 
dialogs in the world. And the illusion is shattered. Or when writing 
a little script with kedit (sue me, I like Wordpad wannabes) and you 
write enough lines to kick on the right scrollbar, poof, that 
hideous, fat little bar with those chunky triangles makes me run for 
an Xterm and joe. Or the drop-down listboxs in motif. I could go on, 
but what I mean is gtk is one of the cleanest, sharpest (literally) 
toolkits around. Even the little black lines around the default 
selection are neat and unobtrusive. So in the pro-themers rush to 
make gtk/GNOME look like a Boris Vallejo painting or H.R. Geiger's 
garage sale, can I assume that I can flip a switch (or a #define 
somewhere) and get the same ol' gtk I know and love?

Just my $0.02US

M.Watson redline at pdq dot net