Aug 10, 2013 05:21 PM (This post was last modified: Aug 10, 2013 05:22 PM by Triangulation.)
If any of you love pretty interfaces and simplicity, Elementary OS "Luna" has just been released and seems like an interesting distribution. Seems to copy the look of MacOS, but I hope it is themeable much like every distribution elsewhere.
I've been helping on and off with the Luna project for about a year now. It's very appealing to the eyes, but customization is a bit tricky. Currently, there's no way to install custom GTK themes (just use gnome-tweak-tool or lxappearance) or Plank themes, so users will still have to copy stuff to /usr/share. Luna also uses Gala and Granite for its window manager, so not all GTK themes work, look right, or both. There's another spin off distribution of Luna called PearOS that comes with a customization tool that can be used on Luna, but might cause some issues with Plank and Gala. This tool lets you set the color of Wingpanel, Plank's position, the placement of window buttons, etc.
Aug 10, 2013 06:50 PM (This post was last modified: Aug 10, 2013 06:51 PM by Triangulation.)
(Aug 10, 2013 05:43 PM)Gent Wrote: I've been helping on and off with the Luna project for about a year now. It's very appealing to the eyes, but customization is a bit tricky. Currently, there's no way to install custom GTK themes (just use gnome-tweak-tool or lxappearance) or Plank themes, so users will still have to copy stuff to /usr/share. Luna also uses Gala and Granite for its window manager, so not all GTK themes work, look right, or both. There's another spin off distribution of Luna called PearOS that comes with a customization tool that can be used on Luna, but might cause some issues with Plank and Gala. This tool lets you set the color of Wingpanel, Plank's position, the placement of window buttons, etc.
Thanks very much for the information, I hope that they'll eventually implement themeing capabilities.
I'll definitely make sure it works to my specifications and see if I can theme with some tweaking tools. Do you have anymore tips that you could give out for the OS in specific?
I'm so excited for this OS, I was looking for something simple like this for school.
(Aug 10, 2013 06:50 PM)Triangulation Wrote: Do you have anymore tips that you could give out for the OS in specific?
Nothing in particular. Also, there's a plug for Switchboard for switching Plank themes now, but they still need to go in /usr/share/plank/themes. Oh, and you don't need Elementary to use their desktop environment and whatnot. You can pull them from Launchpad using BZR and just compile it all. Arch users can also pull most, if not all, parts of Pantheon from the AUR.
(Aug 10, 2013 07:01 PM)Gent Wrote: Nothing in particular. Also, there's a plug for Switchboard for switching Plank themes now, but they still need to go in /usr/share/plank/themes. Oh, and you don't need Elementary to use their desktop environment and whatnot. You can pull them from Launchpad using BZR and just compile it all. Arch users can also pull most, if not all, parts of Pantheon from the AUR.
Pantheon was sketchy for me, but I bet other users can try to use it. I didn't bother messing up my configuration userfiles for it under arch. Also, most of the programs were useless. The Maya Calendar didn't install correctly.. Etc.
I'm glad that we have an Elementary OS 'dev'ish person on the forums :)
(Aug 10, 2013 07:20 PM)Triangulation Wrote: Pantheon was sketchy for me, but I bet other users can try to use it.
Worth a shot now that the project is technically ready. Dan and Cassidy James are constantly pushing out updates though, so don't be surprised if certain things are still wonky.
I finally successfully installed Elementary after multiple errors with Ubiquity. I have no idea how it worked this time, but it worked and i'm not complaining..
It must have been an issue because of my original XFCE4/Arch partition which I shared the home folder with.
If I get bored, I may fire up another fresh Arch and try the Pantheon DE. :)