I like just about everything about Ubuntu MATE, except for that green highlight color. IMHO, it just doesn't fit well with the other colors in the "Radiance" and "Ambiance" themes.
(Disclaimers: This is obviously not the end of the world; one can get used to it. I understand that the use of green is meant to differentiate Ubuntu MATE from the other Ubuntu variants. No disrespect meant for the theme artists, who did a fine job.)
It'd be neat to see more traditional Ubuntu Ambiance theme, as in the following screenshot:
I can get pretty close by using pixmaps from Ubuntu proper, and changing the green color value to the orange color value in the various *.ini and *.css files -- but it's not as good as what the Ubuntu MATE artists did. And it would be nice to have *.deb packages.
Would it be possible to have traditional Ambiance and Radiance themes made for Ubuntu MATE? How much would it take in terms of time and effort?
I totally agree. There should be a way to change the overall green theme to what one prefers. Not anti green however certain colors just do not match. Feedback from all is appreciated.
Here’s my wish. It’s easy enough to customize the highlight color in MATE (Control Center > Appearance > Theme > Customize… > Colors) but the customization only applies to gtk2 applications (and gtk aware Qt applications).
Could MATE desktop accommodate these color changes for gtk3 applications too?
It helps if you have access to an Ubuntu DVD. Then you can copy out the "Radiance" and "Ambiance" themes to a directory so you can use them later. You can also copy out the Ambiant-MATE and Radiant-MATE directories from Ubuntu MATE so you can change the contents without disturbing the originals.
Under the gtk-3.0 directory of the Ubuntu MATE themes, you can edit the various text files to substitute the Ubuntu orange color value ("#F07746) for the Ubuntu MATE green color value ("#87A752"). You can also go into the Ubuntu gtk-3.0/assets directories and copy all the orange-tinted pixmaps, then paste them over the green-tinted pixmaps in the corresponding Ubuntu MATE directories.
After all that, it's pretty close, but not perfect. Here's Radiance:
Each to their own… I do like the shade of green. Really. I hope UM continues to use it. If those who want something else can change it that would be good too.
You can mint-ifiy any system by installing the mint-x theme from packages.linuxmint.com into any system with MATE DE, though, some icons are still minty by default and require replacement. That, and you must install some package contents from archive manager (engrampa / *-fileroller) because of some files being superseded causing initial compatibility issues.
The theme overall comes in many, many colours so you’re not starved for selection, and if you use Emerald, the one window decoration theme I found works with mint-x is Ordinary Black Glass. A touch rough in spots but it works overall.
