gnome themes

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Hey guys:

I am currently using CentOS with the standard gnome for it's GUI.

Let's face it, I think one of the appeals to Windows/MAC's is that the interface looks polished. As I am using the standard gnome theme, the OS just looks "clumsy".

It's the little things that I noticed like how the mouse sometimes flickers when hovering over an internet link. I know part of the problem is the fact that I am using the standard gnome theme, it feels like I am using Windows95 with the flat look and big fonts and big squares.

So I guess my question to you guys is, will installing new themes, perhaps even themes that look like Windows or Mac(Leopard), will the interface, the interaction for me feel smoother?

I guess I'm looking for a polished look....a theme that when my friends come over, they say,"Wow is that linux?"

Not, "ewww, that's linux? It looks like Windows 3.11 for Workgroups"

[reed9]

I think part of the problem is that CentOS still uses Gnome 2.16, which came out 3 years ago. There's been a lot of changes in the last 3 years. Though I would think the flickering has more to do with your graphics card or drivers than the desktop environment.

If you really want a polished look, I would recommend looking for a distro with KDE 4.3. Now, personally, I think KDE is crazy slow and bloated, but I think I saw in your other post that you have a fairly powerful machine, so that shouldn't be a problem.

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I think part of the problem is that CentOS still uses Gnome 2.16, which came out 3 years ago. There's been a lot of changes in the last 3 years. Though I would think the flickering has more to do with your graphics card or drivers than the desktop environment.

If you really want a polished look, I would recommend looking for a distro with KDE 4.3. Now, personally, I think KDE is crazy slow and bloated, but I think I saw in your other post that you have a fairly powerful machine, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Ohhh!!! Ok that makes sense. I know like I've said in another post that CentOS is based on Redhat Enterprise so it's main purpose isn't suppose to be the cool flashy GUI kind of stuff.

Since I'm trying to stick with one distribution so that I "know" it, are there newer versions of gnome? Am I stuck with this until CentOS/Redhat decides to suppose something else?

I've always been a terminal guy, I've used terminals to access my redhat/CentOS servers so I've never cared for the GUI. But I'm starting to play with it now, and I just want my GUI experience to be "fun".

The flickering could be due to the fact that the CentOS I'm using right now is on VMware. I have a pretty good laptop. Dual Core 2.6ghz/4GIG RAM running Vista 64-bit. It's an HP HDX18t.

But I have a spare PC that is also the same spec, so I'd rather have CentOS running on it's own machine rather than being virtualized.

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You're right reed9, I checked and it's version 2.16.0, build date is 2/18/2007.

So is it possible to update the gnome to the latest or am I stuck with 2.16.0?

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Ok I did some research so I didn't sound so much like a leech.

So apparently the latest gnome is 2.26. And there is no package for CentOS, the latest is 2.16.

I guess I'm stuck with this for now as I need to learn CentOS/Redhat distribution and can't devote anytime right now to the more fun dist. out there like Ubuntu.

[reed9]

If you're sticking with CentOS/Redhat for learning purposes and not because you actually are using it in a datacenter/production environment, why not switch to Fedora? Fedora is a community distro that's essentially "upstream" from Redhat. (I think Redhat 5.3 is roughly equated to Fedora 6.) Anyway, point being the stuff you learn about Fedora is applicable to Redhat, but you'll have access to current software releases and new technologies that haven't filtered down to Redhat yet.

[reed9]

Just as an aside, if you do want to stick with enterprise linux, I recommend going with a different Redhat based distro, Scientific Linux.

Here are some reasons why:
The Future of CentOS and Criteria For Choosing a Business Distribution - O'Reilly Broadcast

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If you're sticking with CentOS/Redhat for learning purposes and not because you actually are using it in a datacenter/production environment, why not switch to Fedora? Fedora is a community distro that's essentially "upstream" from Redhat. (I think Redhat 5.3 is roughly equated to Fedora 6.) Anyway, point being the stuff you learn about Fedora is applicable to Redhat, but you'll have access to current software releases and new technologies that haven't filtered down to Redhat yet.

Thanks Reed:

I guess the reason for using CentOS 5.3 is that i am trying to be as close to RHEL 5.3 as possible, other than just the rebadging of the OS. Just trying to be authentic as possible if that makes sense?

I'm just afraid of using possibly newer commands or different ways of doing things in Fedora 11, only to find out that it's not available in RHEL 5.3 and then I am left scrambling trying to figure out how RHEL 5.3 does things.

Do I sound way off on this? If I am wrong, I'd be more than willing to install Fedora and never again use CentOS!!

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Just as an aside, if you do want to stick with enterprise linux, I recommend going with a different Redhat based distro, Scientific Linux.

Here are some reasons why:
The Future of CentOS and Criteria For Choosing a Business Distribution - O'Reilly Broadcast

Just finished reading the article. Wanted to make sure I understood it before I replied.

Ok so basically her talking point is that Scientific Linux isn't so much more stable, but the organization behind it is.

So even if CentOS continues to go on, there's still the assurance that so will Scientific Linux due to the fact that the gov't uses this OS and other agencies...

Quick questions for you:

1) Do I still make comments and questions in the Redhat/Fedora forum since it is basically a clone of Redhat?

2) Is there anything else I should know about SL vs CentOS?

I have no problem dropping CentOS forever and going with Scientific Linux.


It appears that SL is stuck using gnome 2.16 too!! arggh!!!!

[reed9]

I don't use either Fedora or Redhat. For some reason they've never felt comfortable to me and are pretty much my least favorite distros. (Though I appreciate the work they do for open source.) So I really don't know much about their similarities and differences. In broad terms, since Redhat is based on Fedora, the core aspects of the system should be identical. But, Fedora has access to more packages (something like 12000 vs 2500) and newer packages, and is more geared towards a desktop environment. You would have access to software that is not readily available in Redhat, which would provide for different functionality.