OpenSUSE 11.2 Released
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 12th Nov 2009 16:17 UTC, submitted by s1oan
SuSE, openSUSE We're in the middle of the distribution release frenxy, or so it seems. After Ubuntu 9.10 and Mandriva Linux 2010.0, it's OpenSUSE time now: the team has pushed out OpenSUSE 11.2. A minor version number, but there's enough in there, still.
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Pale, pale, pale
by Lobotomik on Thu 12th Nov 2009 19:56 UTC
Lobotomik
Member since:
2006-01-03

The default KDE theme is so pale and low contrast it actually looks as though the monitor is broken. The low-contrast idea seems to affect the whole of KDE; the app installer shows pale featureless grey blobs that seem to be application icons, and the explanations are given in a pale gray font on a white background; file browser tabs are pale, with a pale blue outline; icons are pale and featureless.

In short, I hated its look; I hoped Suse would be better than Kubuntu, but except for the wallpaper color, that is now green, the rest looks exactly the same. Alternative themes are so similar, (except for the dark ones, those DO have dark colours) that they make almost no difference.

As for the usability, I rate it down low. I hated the default menu, with panels that shift in and out of existence, and a hodgepodge of setup options smattered or repeated in unrelated menus. Discoverability of features is low; most things might be only four clicks away, but the whole universe and its parallels might lay thus far, for all the confusion that lies the way. And the way KDE forces its kool-talk lingo unto users is extremely irritating -- "Plasma Desktop Options", "Akonadi Settings", "Sticky notes Plasmoid", "Nepomuk has crashed"...

And SUSE not only would not install a proprietary nVidia driver, which for some frames of mind might be OK, but refused to believe that resolutions over 800x600 were possible using the free driver. Yeah, running sax2 from a console as a superuser let me reconfigure, but that is not exactly what usability is about.

I DO want to like KDE, and I am really giving it a try, but each time I boot I feel my heart shrink. It really has a VERY LONG way to go. Every 4.x version is expected to be the real one... maybe 4.4 witll be it?

Reply Score: -1

RE: Pale, pale, pale
by sbergman27 on Thu 12th Nov 2009 20:33 in reply to "Pale, pale, pale"
sbergman27 Member since:
2005-07-24

In short, I hated its look; I hoped Suse would be better than Kubuntu, but

I don't use KDE. But from what I've heard from others, the KDE problems in OpenSuse are all Novell's fault. Probably due to their shady relationship with Microsoft. And Fedora's poor KDE integration is because... well... everybody knows that RedHat doesn't care about the desktop. And it's well known that Canonical has a secret plan to destroy KDE. So that explains Kubuntu. Debian is not much into custom integration, so the poor KDE integration there is due to that. And... I mean... what would anyone expect from Mandriva? Enough said.

If it weren't for all those unfortunate plots and conspiracies, KDE4 would have killed off Windows and all the other Linux DE's long ago.

It's really a dirty shame, isn't it?

Reply Parent Score: 1

RE[2]: Pale, pale, pale
by Bille on Thu 12th Nov 2009 22:01 in reply to "RE: Pale, pale, pale"
Bille Member since:
2007-05-31

Would you like to do a keynote at next year's Akademy? I haven't laughed so much in ages.

Reply Parent Score: 2

RE[2]: Pale, pale, pale
by Feanor on Fri 13th Nov 2009 17:05 in reply to "RE: Pale, pale, pale"
Feanor Member since:
2006-12-21

How has the Novell-Microsoft deal affected the FOSS community so far? I still have yet to see evidence of FOSS coming under danger from manipulation by that "Giant Evil" Corporation.

Reply Parent Score: 1

RE[2]: Pale, pale, pale
by zsitvaij on Fri 13th Nov 2009 17:42 in reply to "RE: Pale, pale, pale"
zsitvaij Member since:
2006-06-14

Thankfully, KDE4 is excellent on Gentoo. With the monthly bugfix releases, it almost finishes compiling before the next one comes out!

It's a shame however that this stresses the CPU a bit and the flash videos of people falling out of burning buildings end up choppy, but I consider that a reasonable price to pay for such an experience.

:)

Reply Parent Score: 2

RE[2]: Pale, pale, pale
by mgl.branco on Sat 14th Nov 2009 16:36 in reply to "RE: Pale, pale, pale"
mgl.branco Member since:
2009-07-22

But from what I've heard from others, the KDE problems in OpenSuse are all Novell's fault. Probably due to their shady relationship with Microsoft.


and this is based on? As far as I know, a lot of KDE devs use Opensuse and there's plenty of feedback from downstream to upstream . (Correct me if wrong.)

Reply Parent Score: 1

RE: Pale, pale, pale
by vasko_dinkov on Thu 12th Nov 2009 20:40 in reply to "Pale, pale, pale"
vasko_dinkov Member since:
2005-09-13

I must agree on the default KDE theme Oxygen. It's not on par with many Gnome themes. The blue shadow (or is it glow?) that windows cast is the top of the ice-cream..

Reply Parent Score: 1

RE[2]: Pale, pale, pale
by mgl.branco on Sat 14th Nov 2009 16:41 in reply to "RE: Pale, pale, pale"
mgl.branco Member since:
2009-07-22

I must agree on the default KDE theme Oxygen. It's not on par with many Gnome themes. The blue shadow (or is it glow?) that windows cast is the top of the ice-cream..


Curious enough I cannot find a single GNOME theme that I both like, is not intrusive (like black, no contrast with fonts) and that lacks glitches. Matter of taste, I guess.

Reply Parent Score: 1

RE: Pale, pale, pale
by JohnFlux on Fri 13th Nov 2009 03:23 in reply to "Pale, pale, pale"
JohnFlux Member since:
2007-01-04

Looking at random screenshots of OpenSuse 11.2 on google, I don't really see how you can call it low contrast. e.g first hit:

http://files.opensuse.org/opensuse/en/e/e0/A3-kde4.png

That has far more contrast than Windows 7, for example.


With the default panel, what exactly are you having trouble with doing? Which applications do you feel are in the wrong place?

I really can't see why people can't use the new menu. You just type the name of the app, and there it is. Far faster than navigating layers of menus.

Reply Parent Score: 2

RE[2]: Pale, pale, pale
by Lobotomik on Fri 13th Nov 2009 06:35 in reply to "RE: Pale, pale, pale"
Lobotomik Member since:
2006-01-03

First: Notice that the colorful icons are not KDE's. Look at KDE's icons in the same screenshot (Dolphin, Kontact, Applications, Computer, even OpenOffice, as well as everything inside Konqueror's MyComputer view). Look at the pale gray entry titles in My Computer, the seamlessness between window title, menu and toolbar, the window control buttons. The status bar does not look like that by default: it shares the pale gray theme.

Believe me, if you scratch further, you will get treated to yet more of the same. The application installer is an example.

I'm not using it right now, so I cannot recall exactly, but I found the panel dreadfully organized, and did not find the shifting panels that may turn into full-fledged windows with more shifting functionality to be a good idea at all.

And "Just typing the name" is what you did in MS/DOS, but then you only had, like, four apps in your PC. In KDE, the names certainly Karacter (sorry!), but there are a lot of them to remember, the names themselves are often less than helpful and, to me, they feel a bit ridiculous. Do I have to remember Akonadi, or Nepomuk, or Krita, or Amarok?

No, no, no. I do believe usability is low. I hope they understand and work to improve it, because the technology is very good.

Reply Parent Score: 2

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RE: Pale, pale, pale
by No it isnt on Fri 13th Nov 2009 11:47 in reply to "Pale, pale, pale"
No it isnt Member since:
2005-11-14

Perhaps your monitor is broken. Others complain that KDE is overly colourful. Personally, I find it just fine; it's pleasant while the different elements don't all scream for attention at the same time. And it's not like you can't change it.

Reply Parent Score: 3