Look & Feel on Linux

[ma...@makr.zone]

Hi everybody,

I've experimented a bit on Linux (virtual machines with Manjaro, Kubuntu and one real machine with Ubuntu).

The Look & Feel is very disappointing. It does not seem to pick up the system theme right.

Manjaro (looks like 30 years old):

Kubuntu (similar):

Ubuntu (fonts all wrong, terrible sliders):

Is this normal?

I thought Java's adaptive system-like theming was solved back in the last century?

Am I doing something wrong?

_Mark

[Ian Arkver]

Hi Mark,

Without really knowing much about it I'd guess this is the "Metal" look and feel which is the JSwing default.

https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/lookandfeel/plaf.html

I use Manjaro XFCE and mine looks like your Manjaro picture. I dunno if the other WM options in Manjaro look different.

I don't see what's wrong with Ubuntu's fonts in your pic, other than they're lighter and maybe a bit bigger. Am I missing something? The sliders do look bad though.

Regards,
Ian

[ma...@makr.zone]

Hi Ian,

I'm just astonished that users put up with it. I assume it will affect all Java Swing apps, right? Are they so rare nowadays that nobody cares?

Or is this an artifact of recent moves into OpenJDK away from Oracle JDK (or JRE) due to Oracle licensing changes?

_Mark

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[Ian Arkver]

:-)

No idea. I'm just glad it works.

If "modern look and feel" means light blue text on a pale blue background which is impossible to read, or monochrome flat icons which are impossible to decipher or see the edges of, then I'm happy with the retro L&F.

All the best,
Ian

[Niclas Hedhman]

Swing has never received the kind of attention that a UI library needs.
And Sun/Oracle has been announcing for a decade that Swing is not really
recommended for new apps. IBM/Eclipse created their own and JavaFX was
considered (for a while) a replacement.

Many successful Swing applications (such as Jetbrains development tools)
have their own themes and tweaks to make Swing look great and snappy.
That work should have gone into the JDK, but didn't...

IIRC, Swing will not be part of the JDK going forward, and be a
downloadable module instead, as Oracle has modularized the JDK (Jigsaw
project) and want to slim down the bloated JDK.

HTH
Niclas

On 2021-10-26 09:28, ma...@makr.zone wrote:
> Hi Ian,
>
> I'm just astonished that users put up with it. I assume it will affect
> all Java Swing apps, right? Are they so rare nowadays that nobody
> cares?
>
> Or is this an artifact of recent moves into OpenJDK away from Oracle

> JDK (or JRE) due to Oracle licensing changes [2]?

>
> _Mark
>
> Am 26.10.2021 um 08:44 schrieb Ian Arkver:
>
>> Hi Mark,
>>
>> Without really knowing much about it I'd guess this is the "Metal"
>> look and feel which is the JSwing default.
>>
> https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/lookandfeel/plaf.html
>>
>>
>> I use Manjaro XFCE and mine looks like your Manjaro picture. I dunno
>> if the other WM options in Manjaro look different.
>>
>> I don't see what's wrong with Ubuntu's fonts in your pic, other than
>> they're lighter and maybe a bit bigger. Am I missing something? The
>> sliders do look bad though.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Ian
>>
>> On Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 8:15:05 PM UTC+1 ma...@makr.zone
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi everybody,
>>>
>>> I've experimented a bit on Linux (virtual machines with Manjaro,
>>> Kubuntu and one real machine with Ubuntu).
>>>
>>> The Look & Feel is very disappointing. It does not seem to pick up
>>> the system theme right.
>>>
>>> Manjaro (looks like 30 years old):
>>>

>>> Kubuntu (similar):

>>>
>>> Ubuntu (fonts all wrong, terrible sliders):
>>>

>>> Is this normal?
>>>
>>> I thought Java's adaptive system-like theming was solved back in

>>> the _last _century?

>>>
>>> Am I doing something wrong?
>>>
>>> _Mark
>> --
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>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit
>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/openpnp/qzR4V8oLOa0/unsubscribe.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to
>> openpnp+u...@googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>>
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/openpnp/6d198307-2bba-45ad-9c7e-49a5f5b5d6e9n%40googlegroups.com

>> [1].
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/openpnp/3688b7cb-81d7-4e34-5f36-8090fbc2cb17%40makr.zone
> [3].
>
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1]
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/openpnp/6d198307-2bba-45ad-9c7e-49a5f5b5d6e9n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer
> [2] https://java.com/en/download/release_notice.jsp
> [3]
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/openpnp/3688b7cb-81d7-4e34-5f36-8090fbc2cb17%40makr.zone?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer

[rostisl...@gmail.com]

Hi Mark,

I need to say that I am pretty happy with PnP look at Ubuntu 20.04

RH

Dne úterý 26. října 2021 v 9:44:44 UTC+2 uživatel Niclas Hedhman napsal:

[ma...@makr.zone]

Yes, with the universal theming it is acceptable. But I was really expecting "native" look & feel out of the box in Java Swing. Adaptive to settings that I change in the desktop environment.

_Mark

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/openpnp/6ff5ae91-1a32-4609-93a0-6e6fd36b373en%40googlegroups.com.

[Marek T.]

Hi Mark,

You are right that Linux is disappointing with Openpnp appearance - comparing to Windows it looks like archaic shit.

It's a bit better if you play with diffrent fonts and their sizes - but never so nice like in Windows.

And: I have three Javas machines on my Debian, so I can  switch them and see the difference of appearance and working efficiency. And each Java displays Openpnp quite a lot different.

However, I still prefere have Debian than Windows - especially than W10 (no comments what is this good for).

[mark maker]

Hi,

I just confirmed, that the bad Look & Feel is partly due to the OpenJDK runtime.

If you replace it with the Jetbrains runtime (JBR) or for developer the JDK (JBRSDK), it is better.

https://github.com/JetBrains/JetBrainsRuntime/releases

NOTE: Be sure to take the right binary, aarch64 is for ARM, x64 is for Intel & Co. Strange things happen otherwise.

On Ubuntu, I extracted the files into /lib/jvm, and renamed the folder to JBRSDK.

Then in Eclipse got to Window / Preferences, and then to Java / Installed JREs.

Press Add, choose the folder, press Finish.

Mark the new entry as default:

With the JetBrains runtime, the look and feel is then much better (this is under KDE on Ubuntu, with IntelliJLight theme:

For comparison, the same with the OpenJDK runtime:

_Mark

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