Chicago95 Linux Theme | Hacker News Reader

Chicago95 Linux Theme

github.com

92 pointsclircle29 comments

The GUI elements look right for the most part, but the font and spacing gives it away --- the way it's rendered just screams "Linux" to me, for some reason.

Here's a previous attempt at something similar, and once again the fonts produce a "something is off" feeling:

https://kmandla.wordpress.com/projects/lookalike-windows-xp-...

Honestly it might be a trivial thing to most people but I really do find the way Linux tends to render fonts to just be really telling and ugly, this has genuinely put me off using Linux more for development stuff as it's a big problem with VSCode in my experience

When have you tested it? This kept me off Linux for years, extended use would cause me horrible headaches, but FreeType 2.7 fixed my issues completely. That was released two years ago now, but it's still not on some distros and I've heard GNOME may disable the changes by default.

I'm definitely a Windows fanboy if anything but in general I've found Linux doing font rendering better than Windows. And that's since the last 6 years. Which makes me think maybe it's my settings? If think it's only for Firefox on Windows. Would you have any tips?

I have a wild guess. Windows changed the default font to Segoe in Vista, which was released eleven years ago, and you are not a fan. I'm guessing six years is a rough guest or you stuck on XP, or dealt with this problem and forgot you did it years later when you reset settings.

That said, I searched "Firefox Segoe" before writing this and the top few results were from about six years ago when some naming problem caused Firefox to use the wrong version of Segoe. Worth checking on your own.

I find that I go back and forth on this. When 1024 x 768 resolution was standard-ish, I really preferred Linux font rendering. At 1080p, I think I like Windows Clear Type more. At higher resolutions or PPI, it doesn't matter much.

I use the go font[1] for VSCode on Ubuntu 18.04 and I find it to be pleasant.

1 = https://blog.golang.org/go-fonts

Took me while to find just the TTFs...

Here if anyone else just wants the fonts: https://go.googlesource.com/image/+/master/font/gofont/ttfs /

Edit: They don't work with Windows. :(

Can't unsee the terrible letter 'J'.

It reminds me of Java application running on Windows. Trying to look-and-feel like Windows, but all the little things are giving it away.

You can fix that to a reasonable degree by using MS fonts and turning off anti-aliasing.

I found this comparison between Ubuntu and XP using the same fonts:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/JtJaK.png

Inside a browser you can get pixel-exact matching, but for the rest of the UI you can still see the bits of "Linux-ness" showing through --- compare the tabs and menubar, for example.

That's because those are still antialiased. But that can be fixed.

This is likely true if compared to XP, but 95 was before ClearType and likely much more similar to what screams "Linux."

Default font rendering in most GNU/Linux distros is definitely closer to what ClearType does than what Windows 95 did.

There are also the monochrome icons in some apps.

Back in the days you'd be flogged for monochrome icons. The carnival rainbow assault must prevail.

That looks beautiful. Why don't we make nice clean Uis that use space well anymore? Why is everything now light grey on dark grey, and 80% blank space?

Protip: Don't use GNOME :)

I just set this up on LXDE (Lubuntu). It's great. I had to combine it with the Openbox theme 'Micro95' in order to get the correct title bars, though.

(Can this really be MIT/GPL given the artwork..?)

That must really depend on the jurisdiction, no?

Brings back some horrific memories. I was scarred by the windows 95 experience, which is how I got started on linux.

Cursed theme

Why is this a thing? Serious question, not being snarky.

Not to be impolite, but you're on the wrong website if you're asking that question.

Sometimes people make things because it pleases them to do so. That's it; that's all the reasoning needed.

From the top of the README:

> "I was unhappy with the various XFCE/GTK2/GTK3 Windows 95 based themes and decided to make one that was more consistent accross the board for theming."

Why would someone want their modern computer to look as if they’re on Windows 95? That’s a reasonable question.

And F the elitist douche that thinks I’m not smart enough to read Hacker News, as if tech people are just sooo brilliant.

There's no need for a greater purpose or a deeper need or a technical goal.

Someone wanted it and decided to make it. That's all there is to it.

To get a more precise answer, try narrowing down the question a bit. I don't know what point of view you're coming from, or what specific type of justification you're looking for.

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