Seems like it would fit so well with plasma themes/window decorations that are also defined with SVG.
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I donât see any advantages in kvantum really. Me personally I only run a couple of apps in kvantum override since I want those in my dark colorscheme, regardless what the scheme is set to. Mind you, I donât use breeze but lightly. Now, I only use two specifiv colorschemes, a light and a dark. To match those apps running in kvantum, I created my own kvantum theme. Enter the downside of kvantum. In order to match the overall colorscheme, youâd have to either run everything in kvantum OR start editing every single svg in that theme if you want it to match a custom colorscheme. Not only that, youâd need several plasma themes, edited to match the kvantum theme. Now, like I said, I run lightly application. Why? Well, the overall ui and the way it supports transparency. The only thing I have to do in order to match evrything ( except for the apps running in kvantum) is change my colorscheme. And besides, I guess many people just like the default breeze application style.
One click is all I need for fancy ( screenshotâs a mix of lightly and kvantum override)
Iâm guessing mostly because the Kvantum developer didnât try to push it upstream to KDE, and KDE has an already working theming engine that works quite well for Breeze (from before Kvantum existed).
I would also say that Kvantumâs design requirements are much different than what a Plasma theme needs - for example: simplicity or support for QML.
Some KDE devs are working on a new theming engine that is supposed to solve existing Plasma theming issues - which being extremely end-user configurable isnât one of them.
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Kvantum solves entirely different theming problem though. Instead of theming plasmoids, it themes buttons, etc. inside normal Qt apps, basically allowing theming of buttons, checkboxes, etc. without having to resort to actual coding. With Breeze you can change maybe some colors, with Kvantum you can change shape and design of the controls.
Kvantum themes are to buttons/menus/checkboxes/progress bars, etc. what plasma themes and window decorations themes (which are also SVG-defined) are to rest of KDE theming.
And youâd think that providing highly user customizable controls would be just right up KDEâs alley?
Well there are limits to how much features a small group of volunteer developers can support, and they do support a lot. In the case of letting users have a lot of switches and knobs to customize Qt apps look and feel - KDE supports that by letting you install âApplication Styleâ plugins and these can be as complex as the developer wants - I for example am very happy with Klassy.
Breeze is a trade off between âlooks great out of the boxâ and âa non-frightening amount of user controlsâ. Maybe leaning a bit towards the ânon-frighteningâ part. Anything more customizable - thatâs where you get support for third-party stuff.
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Yes, I think it would be right up KDEâs alley, because it fits nicely with what plasma themes and Aurorae decorations do already. Besides, all KDE would need to provide is support for easy download/selection of Kvantum themes (see? Even the name of it is already KDE-ified) like they do with Aurorae decorations and plasma themes via system settings app and leave development of Kvantum itself to the developers of Kvantum.
Currently the âGet Hot New Stuffâ can only download themes for loaders that are part of the Plasma system. What you envision is a system where plugin developers can create custom GHNS integrations. Sounds useful - maybe you want to suggest that as a feature request in bugs.kde.org.
I personally would have liked to start by just getting a GHNS integration in the Application Style - installing custom styles is a pain and I would first like to see how people can offer pre-built application style plugins and have them delivered through GHNS.
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There are, what, something like 300 kvantum themes. About three quarters of those donât come with a colorscheme, or a window decoration, arenât updatedâŚetc⌠Kvantum themes are about svgâs. The overall user of kde doesnât know s⌠about editing svgâs. Btw, didnât you post a question on how to make an aurorae theme, something that contains about 7 svgâs? A kvantum theme takes quite a bit more and hopefully theyâre what you like. And donât forget, if you want afull kvantum desktop, youâll also have to know how to make a plasma theme that matches it. Me personally? Well, like I said, Iâd rather put my stock in an application style which works far easier in terms of color. Me personally, Iâm quite happy with an application style like lightly and a window decoration a la, for example, klassy. Theyâre far better integrated whereas kvantum is niche. If you yourself feel like making a ton of kvantum themes for the shop, be my guest. Hope youâre good at working Inkscape and the likes. O, and umâŚthe developerS of kvantum? Who exactly would that be? Tsjuan&Co?
Mind you, Guss has a point on a better integration for application styles in terms of GHNS. The same goes for window decorators ( not aurorae).
No, kvantum seems like a sugar rush in the candy store at first. After a while you realize what the downsides are. Like I mentioned before, I can switch between a system wide color in a click or two. Good luck doing that with kvantum.
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There are a few of us fossils left who remember skeumorphic schemingâŚ
Kvantum is clunky, nowhere near as efficient as a proper modern theme - but for sure, when I run QMPlay2 I love that I can use KVantum to skin it like an old-school application, maybe with glassy buttons or something.
However, I think overall KVantum is an outdated concept.
From all of my experimenting with theming, I have it boiled down to just one or two options which seem to run well across the board:
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Themes must follow MY colour scheme. Anything else is toast⌠and I prefer if it works well with colours taken from the wallpapers I collected over the years.
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A great number of âGlobal Themesâ on offer are simply re-using stuff and pretty much are a waste of time.
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Breeze is very good. Breath (from Manjaro) is also excellent⌠then you could look at Klassy (some variations there) and - well not much else is of interest TBH.
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Application Style (the target of Kvantum) - look at Breeze, Klassy, and Lightly. Lightly is my favourite option - it is being reborn, and you can build it from a new fork for QT6⌠(try copy and paste this whole text⌠see if it builds for you
)
git clone --single-branch --depth=1 https://github.com/Bali10050/Lightly.git
cd Lightly && mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR=lib -DBUILD_TESTING=OFF ..
cd ./kdecoration/config/
make -j 12
cd ../../
make -j 12
sudo make install
Plasma styles - well, same story. I have a copy of Breath with a classic clock I pasted there, but I donât usually bother with the desktop clock - so just try a couple out. I have noticed with my current installation that the volume doesnât always work properly (i.e. on the slider, if you click the volume in Tray, you canât see the audio level) and needs a quick log out to refresh.
Generally I go with Breath anyway - or Breeze.
Decorations - get Klassy installed, I have standard breeze widgets but coloured red/green/white - looks nice and isnât a Mac or Windows style.
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From fossil to fossil, couldnât agree more. I like bling, but the kvantum christmas decorations are none of my precumbrian intrest. Waay too limited for my taste.
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