is this flamebait? we really don't need this stale-ass debate revived for the millionth time. everything that had to be said has been said and no one is going to budge from their positions. there is nothing to be gained from reposting some old controversial 2021 blog post about this outside of more flaming. it's time to move on. this is a waste of everyone's time.

if you're a developer, support themes if you want to support them, don't support them if you don't. if you're a user, use the apps you want to use. if you care about theming, use the apps that support it. if you don't, good for you. there doesn't need to be anything more to it.

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To make it clear, I would still use Linux with GNOME/libadwaita over Windows any day. Yes, some themes are ridiculous and will be a nightmare for any developer to work around. That said, I can't help but be concerned about the coming demise of theming with the way GTK is going.

What first pushed me to start exploring Linux was when Windows 8 forced the Metro theme down our throats. My time with Linux would have started three years later if M$ had kept Windows 7 theming options - that's how important a customizable, sensible theme is to me.

I'm glad that I don't have to do that again since there are DE options that do insist on keeping theming alive.

Install gtk3-classic and force Xwayland by setting WAYLAND_DISPLAY= if you want server side decorations. If you want theming, install libadwaita-without-adwaita-git

Whilst you shouldn't need a hack like this, it seems to be the best way to resolve blinding white applications in the middle of the night.

As much as I sympathise with developers over headaches caused by themeing, I believe users (myself included) would be less up-in-arms about it if applications were less ugly by default. And boy howdy is libadwaita ugly as sin.

I'd be perfectly willing to tolerate a mismatched system, if the individual components looked at least okay. Like I'm not going to get e.g. steam or discord to match an e.g. Windows 9x theme, and I'm mostly okay with that because they aren't horrible to look at. But, say, File Roller? Absolutely not. Horribly ugly.