GNewSenseIsUgly

I don't understand how gNewSense will ever spreat Free GNU/Linux adoption when it looks so ugly. The logo is confusing and does not immediately give any impression of professionalism. The wallpaper (based on the logo) is also unpolished and not visually pleasing. In GNOME, caramel icons/windows on a blue background is a terrible choice. In KDE, the use of blue Krystal icons with lime green hurts my eyes even more.

GNOMElook.org and KDElook.org are fantastic resources for window decorations, wallpapers, and more. I suggest that the people in charge of gNewSense take a look around and try to beautify their distro. They also might want to change the name to something that doesn't sound like "nuisance".

I undertand you don't like the current art of gnewsense ( everyone has different taste ). But takeing the art out, Gnewsense is a great and simple distro (also simple in art) . I'm (as one of the artist) trying to make Gnewsense also Gnewsense-kde a better visual experience for new users. I have recently made more logo ideas and an optiontional wallpaper for Gnewsense-kde (it blends better with the Krystal icons ). I will post it here or at the list soon.

Also in the future hopefully we will add themes for people to choice from, this would make people feel at home when people use Gnewsense.

ps. I actually like the name Gnewsense it makes me think of a new era with future great thinkers and more open-minded people ... or sometime oddly it reminds me of the incense smell at my aunts house...

I think they are very good considering most of it is done dynamically using imagemagik, people have to understand that most of the art is most of the times done to change K/Ubuntu names and so on.. if people instead of complaining will actually help, we will have at some point a developer base big enough to build our own packages instead of hacking k/ubuntu ones, so we will create art on our desktops not on the fly to modify names... please take a look at "builder" the scripts we wrote to strip/hack K/ubuntu from proprietary blobs and create dynamic art, or better help us :-)

thanks for your understanding. Chris Fernandez

I would happily contribute artwork, but I don't know what the colour scheme is. I think the first step should be to create a colour scheme for both distros, then base the artwork off of it.

I think it looks alright. I would like to see more consistency in the color scheme but all things considered I can change the theme, icons and so forth myself so it honestly does not matter to me. I change all that in every distro I use - even the "pretty" ones. :)

The name is perfect...IMO....

I have been brainstorming for a while about a better name for gNewSense. The basis of this is that if there is a clear name, an art theme evolve from that. I thought about the goals of gNewSensw: To be a pure distro, clean from proprietary packages. For the software to be transparent in its workings. But at the same time, I believe it strives to be a beacon of sorts.

Based on those ideas of purity, transparency, and "drinking from the 'source'", I recommend "Glacier GNU/Linux". Artwork to follow...

I actually agree with Munchkinguy on selecting a basic color scheme for both distros.We can't just make art work base on any color then it wont match at all.

Any artistic ideas?

also.. the green-ich colors selected for KDE were chosen to make the distro different from others. (Unique).. any ideas of color options? or it look good as it is and we should work around it..

I also agree with a base colour scheme, but I have to say I like the name gnewsense. I think the name does not need changing, in fact I would be quite upset if it were to be changed. To me gnewsense just makes sense!!

I think it's important to design a logo that looks good with only one color, like the gnome foot or the apple. It will look more professional and will have more impact.

I would happily contribute. It's Anybody working on stablish the color scheme or a logo redesign?

The look is OK. Very pleasing. The bottom line is always, "does the programme work". It does! Thank you.

What about HoTT ("Holier Than Thou")?

Nah, just kidding :) Gnewsense is just fine. At last a completely free Linux that works out-of-the-box Thanks!

I don't mind the name. I think it might look better with a capital 'G' at the beginning though, and I've seen that's been used in some of the suggestions for a new logo at http://flickr.com/photos/davelab6/sets/72157594509090768/detail/. I don't mind the colours either, except maybe the blue for the GNOME background. I think the colour scheme in the KDE version is really good, and the logo looks better on the background than in GNOME. I agree that the logo doesn't look particularly professional, but it's still early days for this distro. I quite like the ideas of just a 'G' in a circle on that Flickr page.

I think the name gNewSense is about as fitting as... well, any other distro name out there. The important thing, rather that having "gNewSense" on people's tounges is having them discuss the Freedom that comes with it, the rest is secondary. :)

But as far as the artwork, I strongly agree that it needs some help. I think establishing a colour palette, or even an idea centric to the art that will be the default is a good idea.

That said, I'm willing to contribute time into creating and packaging some art, but I'd like to have a general idea of what we're aiming for.

I like guyjohnston's G logo. It's nice and simple. And I find using Clearlooks blue instead of Ubuntu brown goes much better with the background.

Based on my Glacier Linux concept, I have modified a some test wallpaper from the Fedora Art project (no, they're not using it) to make something based on that idea of pure, clean sources and something monumental. Disclaimer: I am not a professional artist.

See it at

I would like to edit my post to resize the image, but I cannot find such a function... sorry.

I'm curious, Munchkinguy. Do you program? I couldn't help myself. Art or not. gnewsense is completely free. You are free to change the artwork in any way that you like. There is source code, and plenty of documentation.

I'm very thankful for the work these guys are doing, at GNU in particular. As it is, I think an encouragement is in order. The reason why I switched to GNU/Linux in particular was to learn more about computers, not about pictures. It's true the software should look good, but I'm more worried about the purity of the code for now.

For the life of me I dona understand why folk complain 'bout artwork. Change it if ya dona like it, after all this isna windows, one has choices. Speaking of choice, ya dona like gnome, try kde, dona like it how 'bout xfce, dona like desktop environements give Enlightenment a go, to hard try Blackbox/Fluxbox. Want old school how 'bout WindowMaker or AfterStep. Want to be truly unique, give several a try at once.

Seriously, not flaming, but if we applied Munchkinguy's own logic to the 'Glacier GNU/Linux' theme we would have to examin the analogy a bit;

Glaciers are made of hard ice and debris frozen within them, and exist in areas of extreme cold. So basically, GNU would be saying their distro is dirty, cold, hard to use, and if you don't have the necessary protection you can die from exposer. If you ever do warm up to it, it melts away and leaves a pile of mud. For art, instead of a glacier I'd recommend a picture of a frozen caveman with a puzzled or painful look on his face beating a laptop with his club.

Sorry, I just really had to be funny.

I have to say that I like it the way it is. I'm known for my lack of taste, though.

This release is soliciting a community development action. I would say that this release is just a baseline (full function) concept to prompt a string of developmet modifications based on the concept 'totally free'.

I think it's an Ubuntu concept correction effort. 'GREAT IDEA' - I think This Distro will be top list in about a year or so.

i love the artwork in gNewSense-KDE .. and i love the name gNewSense

@axlr8or

Ok, but you could do that with any metaphor...

Fedora: Worn by gangsters in 1940s movies. Mandrake: A plant whose shreiks, according to folklore, can kill a human. Slackware: Sounds like a lazy, sloppily-made system.

@axlr8or

Ok, but you could do that with any metaphor...

Fedora: Worn by gangsters in 1940s movies. Mandrake: A plant whose shreiks, according to folklore, can kill a human. Slackware: Sounds like a lazy, sloppily-made system.

I have a gNewSense new artwork proposal:

http://romelsand.wordpress.com/2007/04/07/gnewsense-artwork-proposal/

romel! That artwork is great I loved the log. I definetly think gNewSense needs a radical change of image, I vote for this to be the new logo (at least for now).

I think gNewSense should make a call to every artist from the community to make a proposal for the image at least for the logo.

I have to agree with odrium the logo is very nice in romel's proposal

I also think romel's artwork idea is really good. I particularly like the choice of colours and the new logo. I think that should be the artwork used in the next version. Personally, I prefer the Ubuntu Human icons to the Tango ones (at least the ones that are actually different), but they wouldn't go as well with those colours.

I have to say that I think the art design of gnewsense is very good, it's beautiful.

this is a bullet proof distro and i find the color scheme quite pleasing

Romel good job, I really like your proposal :)

Heool! For my two cents worth, I love the gNewSense logo. It's simple and straightforward, and needs no updating. The artists did a fine job in my humble opinion!

Yikes! Sorry about the spelling!

I don't really care about the logo or the name, or the GNOME theme as well. I won't even b running GNOME anyway. I prefer GNUStep.

I would concur that GNUStep would be the logical choice for this distro. Good call.

Cheers

Have you seen this...

gNewSense is changing...

I am new here and just offering my two cents, your name is odd. Does not matter if anyone agrees or disagrees with me the name is just odd. It does not tell me anything about the product. Names dont mean much though, at least if you are not interested in marketing a product.

I have yet to install this version of Linux, I got a new Toshiba here with Fedora 9 alpha. I have yet to install the wireless so I am using microsloth for now.

I bought the cheapest computer I could find and I am now looking for a simple operating system that runs clean and lean, I am only here because I believe Stallman uses this distro.

So I will give you guys a try but I got to tell you I wish you had a name with a catchy ring to it.

gNewSense is not a "product" nor is it a "version of Linux"

please get a basic conceptual understanding by reading the philosophy section of the gnu project web site.