Wallpapers: Do We Need So Many?

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Hi guys,

First of all, I’d just like to say how awesome it is that so many people are contributing wallpapers and sharing their content. Community is definitely the word. :smiley:

There are certainly a few users whose work I follow with interest!

I wonder if this really is the right place to ask, (and by all means tell me if it isn’t!) but I am starting to wonder about the number of wallpapers included in the distro by default.

By reckoning, as of 15.10, there are:
9 which are presumably default MATE wallpapers,
11 nature-based wallpapers, by various creators,
10 stunning photography-based wallpapers, all by David Chadderton,
Circle of Mates, by Ivan Pejić,
4 Ubuntu MATE… wallpapers (including the default,) and the variants thereof, by Goce Mitevski,
Keep Calm, by Tim Apple,
The 2 MATE Stripes… wallpapers, by Adam Erdman,
Ubuntu MATE Neon, by quidsup (quidsup!!),
The 2 XV-X… Moon wallpapers, by Ghost sixtyseven,
The Ubuntu MATE green origami wallpapers, by Rohith Madhavan,

Would it not be an idea to hold some kind of community audit now and then?

Whilst I’m a fan of David’s work, 10 wallpapers does seem (in my opinion at least) a tad excessive. Equally, there seem to be a number of generic wallpapers with the Circle of MATEs and so on; whilst I could justify 1, or 2, I’m not sure about the current number.

Of course, this last paragraph was just my own personal opinion, which I doubt will be shared by many, but idea (in principle) of auditing or consulting the community on the default wallpapers would be a good idea.

Let me know your thoughts!

Nathan Stanley Russell

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I’m for to have community voted wallpapers for releases, similar to how there is a contest for regular Ubuntu.

Personally, I’m not really a fan of the wallpapers included in Ubuntu MATE in general (aside from the default, and one or two others, they’re okay) … I don’t really like too much MATE or busy images with the logo on a vast amount of pictures… just my preference.

As far as I know, if there’s a lot of interest in a particular wallpaper, and it’s licensed under CC then Mr. @Wimpy may consider including it for the next release. I don’t think there is any exact guidelines unlike say, Ubuntu’s competition. Here it’s a bit of laissez-faire approach where anyone can create one and share it.

Even if the default wallpapers aren’t satisfactory, you can always install ubuntu-wallpapers or any other flavour for their collections.

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Personally, I’m a great believer in the idea of a default set of wallpapers being a way to showcase the community’s work. That’s where I’m coming from with this.

The current system, whilst I totally respect the openness behind it, seems to be crowding-out other work. For example, I think the default wallpaper (Ubuntu MATE Radioactive) is excellent; but, at the same time, I don’t think having 15 other subtle variations on it really adds anything to the quality of the collection.

Having the community decide on the 10, or 15, best works to be included in the latest release wouldn’t only be a way to get other people more involved in Ubuntu MATE, but it would give us a set of high quality and unique wallpapers in the process!

Hopefully it would also build on Ubuntu MATE’s reputation for strong community focus, and be symbolic of the distro’s simplicity and elegance.

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Hi @nthnrssllnsr, and welcome! :smiley:

I am noticing that you post corrective posts, only one hour after joining us, today.

That's cool; but you may soon find that we are a tad more embracing of each others efforts and, for that matter, what we may have had for breakfast, than many other communities. As a patron, and a daily supporter of our little gig, here, I genuinely hope that does not change.

Perhaps you have seen this, below, image splattered all over our OS:

Screenshot-9.png779×365 393 KB

I hope you enjoy hanging out and doing what we do, here; cheers! :wink:

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There are some very very nice wallpapers included in the various distros including Ubuntu Mate, it is of course down to personal choice (as you rightly pointed out) and everyone can choose their own wallpaper, I only use a couple of the many that are available in UM and have a big folder with hundreds of other wallpapers to choose from, keep em coming and having about 30 wallpapers as default isn’t that bad in my opinion!. :smiley:

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I certainly didn’t mean to step on anyone’s toes! As I’ve said, the wallpapers themselves (and therefore the work of community members) are (in my opinion) excellent! I’m a great fan of the work and love that people put into the project. If that was your understanding of what I was saying, then I apologise for not being clearer.

Including the work of every contributor to Ubuntu MATE’s wallpaper collection, but only (for example) including their best 3 or 4 works, would be another solution. I don’t see the need to include everything by default, especially since it’s so easy to find more on this website!

As a patron, and a daily supporter of the little gig, here, I respect and honour your work and opinion. As for my small time here, I certainly don’t intend to go away any time soon! :smile:

Look, I wrote what I considered to be a balanced and constructive post. If I missed the mark, I’m sorry. I am, however, genuinely convinced that if something like this were pursued it would have a positive effect!

Kind regards,
Nathan Stanley Russell

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I would like to give my 2 cents about this: I don’t believe that including all wallpapers is a good idea. Even though we are in 2016 and almost everyone has large pendrives, HDDs, etc, I don’t believe that reserving a big amount of space for wallpapers is smart (considering minimum resolution of 1920x1080 - 2.5mb per wallpaper). Some people are going to use Ubuntu MATE in old desktops or use it on small USB sticks. Every megabyte counts in my honest opinion. I’d use this space instead for some other useful apps or drivers for even better driver support or not use it at all to keep the distro small.

Please don’t get me wrong, it’s just my opinion about this. I don’t want to belittle anyone’s work, but there are better solutions for this. Also, I am a wallpaper contributor myself and I would not be mad if my wallpaper will not be included in the distro by default.

One solution would be to set a number of default wallpapers, decided by vote and put all the others wallpapers ‘available online’. Then, a link for ‘get more official wallpapers online’ in the Background Config Window would do the rest of the job.

Also, I’d like to ask something: Is it obligatory that every wallpaper has to have the Ubuntu MATE logo? I really like the OS and the logo, however I am not a big fan of logos in wallpapers. Some nice pictures without logo in the collection would be really nice.

Regards,
Xamineh

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Community wallpapers…Bring em on…:slight_smile:

At the end of the day, for me at least, it hardly matters if there are loads of em in the gallery. Some of them I like. Some of them, less so. That’s all fine, though.

But that’s just me.

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+1 - I see it as a good sign of less bloat. Bring on the 2 GB flash drives! :wink:

The only requirement is that:

+1 - I agree, there has been some photography I liked, but felt were "spoiled" by having the Ubuntu MATE logo stuck on for the sake of it... the only exception is if the logo is cleverly baked into the photo, like the Wily Werewolf moon wallpaper (15.10). Again, that's personal preference, and I don't think many other distros are excessive with logos in wallpapers.

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@nthnrssllnsr, I am both delighted and relieved that you engaged again, specifically as you did. :relaxed: As you can see, here, we are not unlike you; we enjoy helping to make UM what it is; and heated debate is part of it. I do not wish to, nor have I, yet, embraced the wallpaper issue. My, initial, response solely had to do with the explicitness, e.g. the first two critical posts, itemized lists, and the overall directive tone - from a brand spanking new member.

It merely felt a tad rushed to be summed up, so soon, concerning, most any, nonoperative matter with an ongoing, community project; traditional decorum, no doubt.

I, as I am certain most of us, hope you do stay around - to put your practical discernment in the mix; that is an integral part of what goes on here. For all it is worth: I trust and respect the judgment, and exertions, of these folks, in this community, more than most people I deal with in life. :smirk:

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I think the core problem is that the MATE wallpaper picker is basic - it puts every wallpaper at the same level. It is also rather slow to populate first time.

If the Cinnamon wallpaper picker were adopted (and adapted) we could have “folders”:

MATE Defaults
Ubuntu MATE Defaults
Ubuntu MATE Community

and nobody need be offended.

(I suggest that the default folder is the UMD one).

The only issue is that that change would have to be part of an up issue of MATE (1.14 presumably).

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Well, I suppose you have a point. It does now seem a little ‘baptism of fire’ - like.

Either way, however bluntly I phrased the post, I’m grateful for the responses. Everyone who has given their opinion seems to be fair, constructive, generally nice.

I think there is a debate to be had around the selection of default wallpapers, and if listing those included in 15.10 in an itemised list makes a single user stop and share their thoughts I’d consider it worth it.

I’m in pursuit of the same goal as you. #togetherness :smile:

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yep that sounds like an idea

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That does sound like an excellent solution!

I know others were talking separately about a reduction in the wallpapers included on the Ubuntu MATE disk images. Would pulling the wallpapers down from online (as a recommended extra sort of thing) be an option?

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This is possible with Variety (available from the 15.10+ Ubuntu MATE Welcome application), which is excellent - a far better wallpaper changer than anything Windows offers.

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We can have a separate package including loads of wallpapers, and include only some of them as default, others could be got by installing the package.

:open_mouth:

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That would, to me at least, seem an ideal solution. But I don’t know how others feel about it, or how difficult it would be to implement.

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Amen to that :slight_smile: I couldn’t agree more.

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Nice debate. My two cents:

  1. I do not really like using logos as it makes it less personal and I’m using personal computers.
  2. I use this Shogo Makishima wallpaper and use another (which I do no like too much) for the greeter.
  3. Please, backgrounds contributors!! Make wallpapers for the greeter!!
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