Copyright © 2008, 2009 Arndt Roger Schneider
The design of an application is compiled –integrated– from its
every element. Changing the elements inside an application
will destroy the design. Theming toolkits do not aid you –the
application designer– to preserve the application’s visual
integrity.
How –if at all– is it possible to theme an application,
while keeping the initial design whole? The answer to this question
is: All provided themes –for a given platform– are extremely
similar. Possibly even very similar across different platforms.
The last pro theming argument then:
helping people with visual impediments.
Apple Inc.® has, with AQUA®, artfully demonstrated how
to aid people with visual disabilities –by utilizing the
computing power of modern graphics cards.
Why then is theming popular?
- Vendors of Theming Toolkits
As seen with Linux® X11: theming gives an marketing
advantage to the vendor. Other (smaller) toolkits
in the same market are suppressed.
Smaller toolkits have to make an additional effort
in order to catch-up with dominating theming toolkits.
This is the essence for Tile.
The same market pressure applies, if the toolkit is provided
by the Operational System vendor. Current Linux® distributors act also
under this marketing logic.
- Why do developers like to use theming?
Formal education is heavily set on linguistic and
easy measurable / train-able skills.
Art, and visual design is art, is entirely neglected.
A developer uses language as his primary
tool, and language is the anathema to design.
Theming is used as an excuse for disregarding
the visual design of an application.
- Why Computer Owner like theming?
I don’t have a proper answer for this question.
Every person, I observed, while they were using
their computers, didn’t care or even knew that the
used Operational System could be themed.
A lot of it may be based on people’s playfulness,
of course. Perhaps, the pride of ownership: The
excitement to express oneself by making one’s own property
unique.
When this is the relevant reason, then any themed
toolkit falls short in comparison to X Resource Database –and the
original Tk option database. Only these customization
techniques are really capable to make a Graphical User Interface
unique.
No Theming engine under X11 should ignore the
X Resource Database. Ignoring the X Resource Database equals breaking X11
itself.