Well said, and I hadn’t thought about your arguments. Cool

But, I did like that IBM OS2 Warp look! Look what happened there.

Regards,

JJMacey
Phoenix, Arizona

The background pictures for Ubuntu 9.04 are quite simple and neutral and I believe this is good! The graphical form of a successful GNU/Linux distribution should INCLUDE as many groups of users as possible and exclude as few as possible.

We know that Ubuntu, at its best, can adress a very wide scope of users and organizations. Thus a rather neutral desktop art on the standard release, should look nice, attractive, and at the same time has a lower probability do close doors to certain groups or cultures. For instance, the previous Ubuntu art with naked people and even the animal background pictures are controversial in many ways.
Publishing naked skin is definitely not politically correct for serious companies. Horns may be associated with infidelity and homosexualism on certain cultures. Colorful abstract pictures trigger associations to flower power and less serious attitudes, thus less suitable for business and organizations. And the list can be made longer.

Some people think brown is “uggly”. This is another challenge. Pick a color, create a brand and hold to it to see if it grows. If it doesn’t grow make a few adjustments but remember that it takes time to introduce a new brand and continuity is important for long term recognition and success.

I’ve found few, if any, Linux distros ship with “killier” Desktops. When I change distros I dive into my Art collection. I’ve been saving stuff from http://www.gnome-look.org and http://www.kde-look.org. for years.

It is a pity that some of this stuff isn’t available straight “out of the box”. IMHO