Some quick feedback for Arytom and Kyrill (for Zorin OS 18) ... right now, I am using the "Rounded Corners" extension to make things look more consistent across the board in Zorin 17 Pro. Please either include a built-in system setting to enable this, or just make all windows have rounded corners outright. If this is already in the works; great. Feel free to disregard. But if it is not, kindly please add it. Thanks.
With libAdwaita being introduced into Zorin 18, round corner extension become obsolete. The new UI layout is round.
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Thank you!
What else do we know about coming in 
Theming of windows (gtk theming) will be removed. I'm not sure if the Zorin brothers make it possible to change accent colors of the windows though.
Will it be removed also for XFCE?
XFCE is much less affected despite using GTK because it adheres to GTK only, not Gnomes new HIG.
LibAdwaita is tied to apps and to Gnome core elements. So installing some apps (especially those that bring LibAdwaita along with them) will cause those apps to appear a different theme than the rest off the desktop - but will not alter the desktop itself.
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I don't like the sound of that ...
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Few months ago Linux Mint made an announcement that they launched libadapta (a libadwaita fork) with themeing support. And with this, these apps follow the respective desktop themes. This implementation has been made into Cinnamon DE with the Linux Mint 22.2 update and the results are looking quite good.
I'm thinking, is it possible to replace libadwaita with libadapta in Zorin 17 or in Zorin 18 and get the theming benefits in these apps? Or this is something that need to be done from the side of the app developer?
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The problem is a lotof apps are using Libadwaita now, so things going to look weird with the mix of them.
Yeah, libadapta is a nice Idea. It is at the End LibAdwaita but with Theming. But Gnome would have to take it. and I don't think that this will happen.
I'll admit, I'm a little lost when it comes to this libadwaita thing... what is it exactly? I've always seen it mentioned at the same time than GTK4, but I'm just not really sure if it's supposed to be a replacement for it or... ?
Unfortunately, I don't understand exactly what libadwaita is either. If more and more apps use it, but it doesn't appear at all in non-Gnome desktop environments, the appearance becomes inconsistent. Can it help to use such a libadwaita theme from github in XFCE to make everything look more uniform?
I have the feeling that there could soon only be Gnome and KDE, as the other DEs are being pushed more and more to the sidelines.
For those of us that have created themes, we are more aware of the rather long history of Gnome trying to halt, block and prevent user theming.
Back in the early gtk3 days, every point release of Gnome broke user theming. Eventually, the Gnome developers had to stop intentionally breaking theming (The story is that the stake holders made them sign a pledge) and beginning with Gnome 3.20, all theme breakage ceased.
Then Gnome wrote an "Open letter" - to themselves... Claiming to be other independent developers... In which they requested that Gnome stops theming their apps.
When confronted, they waffled the claim that since they do work on other independent projects besides Gnome, it counts.
Whatever.
Finally, they came up with LibAdwaita.
Library for Adwaita.
Adwaita and Gnomes appearance is their brand image. Rather than view Gnome D.E. as a dynamic Open Source System, they seek to protect their brand image by removing Modularity (More integration makes it harder for the end user to use Other Desktop's applications on Gnome. Shell centric apps that only work on Gnome, like Gnome Screenshot, which is now integrated into the Shell - with less functionality.), making Gnome more like Mobile Interfaces and locking in the Gnome Appearance.
LibAdwaita introduces a move away from GTK and toward Gnomes own HIG - Human Interface Guidelines.
It is built on top of and in addition to GTK.
GTK4 is therefor, kept exceptionally minimal, making it much less usable (or desirable) to other desktops like XFCE, Cinnamon or LXDE, etc, that use GTK.
LibAdwaita then adds in the Gnome specific widgets lacking in GTK, making it so only Gnome can use them.
Reminding you of Microsoft and Apple, Yet?
LibAdwaita itself is also coded as a lock - locking down customizations and preventing distribution or end user changes.
Yeah... Even Microsoft is not this bad.
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Yeah, Microsoft just wants to make you pay for Windows, so you can unlock it, to let you change the background wallpaper or whatever. Otherwise if you don't pay for it, you get to use it for free, just locked down on customizing.
Here's something to note, in order for Zorin OS 16 & 17 to be useful on Gnome, Zorin devs had to customize Gnome, in order to make the experience useful to the user. Zorin devs will likely have to do the same, in OS 18.
Personally, I don't understand how the Gnome devs get away with it. This is Linux were talking about, & FOSS. So I ask, why has the Linux community allowed this to happen? Why is their no regulatory committee to keep Gnome Canonical honest?
I think Linux as a whole, should hold them accountable, for breaking open source FOSS policies.
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Zorin should just move to another DE and call it a day.
Realistically that's a big difference and big change, it's one I don't think would occur.
It would also take away from efforts spent on other things such as improving app support via preconfigured bottles/Zorin grid/and whatever other features we'll see in 18
I know; not saying you're wrong. I'm saying that down the road, they should just make a clean break from GNOME and avoid all the headaches that come with it. EDIT: This also doesn't mean to take away from all the work the Zorin Group does to make GNOME usable, of course ...
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Also a fair point it could be one they may consider giving the unavailability of theming, etc.
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