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Consider hacks to make Gtk3 apps look more native
Gtk is seen as a legacy technology in helloSystem, mainly in place for Inkscape and GIMP. Luckily these tend to use Gtk in a "conservative" way, not using the strange design philosophy that Gnome seems to have nowadays.
So it's questionable whether it's worth putting energy into this topic - who really needs Gnome/Gtk 3 apps on helloSystem?
https://github.com/PCMan/gtk3-nocsd is using LD_PRELOAD hackery to remove Client Side Decorations (CSD).
Instead of this:
we would get this (but of course with the helloSystem window decorations instead of the black ones):
To also remove the redundant window title, one can set
css opacity 0 of titlebar
There is also https://github.com/lah7/gtk3-classic which can do even more wonders:
https://github.com/lah7/gtk3-classic/wiki/Screenshots
Since the elephant in the room is Gnome's out-of-place padded buttons, maybe you could make a GTK3 theme that has normal text boxes, buttons, etc. without padding. This would really go the extra mile to make all apps feel better. I would not normally use Gnome apps on this system. However, I really like the Gnome Web (epiphany) browser and would love to be able to use apps like this on here without puking out of my eyes... Adwaita!! : (
I would install the browser/epiphany package to see how it looks. It is a very solid, simplistic interface that uses Gnome's design philosophy well and would be a good benchmark for developing a theme like this. I know a lot of users, like myself, enjoy using this simple WebKit browser. Some users may want to use select Gnome applications like Gnome Calculator, Software, or files, too.
Personally I won't spend time on Gtk because my intention is to remove all remaining Gtk traces from the system but if anyone thinks it is important, please do send pull requests. Thanks!
@probonopd I think leaving it how it is right now would be better than gutting support. Some people may need a GTK3 app for their work or projects and this will force them out of it and possibly cost you some users. So while it won't be a pleasant or elegant experience, at least people will have the option if they want it. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Sort of like QT support on Gnome or GTK support on KDE...
Done some searching around and there's some pre-existing themes that seem to fit the bill rather well to make GTK3 apps look more like your interface. In order, best to worst:
- https://github.com/jgpws/omnu-ice
- https://gitlab.com/bluedxca93/devil-leopard
- https://github.com/cat-in-136/FlatSurfacesTheme
- https://www.gnome-look.org/p/1499340
- https://www.gnome-look.org/p/1326363
https://github.com/thesquash/stlwrt
Ultimately, the goal is to be able to run most GTK+ 2 and many GTK+ 3 applications using the same STLWRT library, while both types of applications keep a conservative, traditional GTK+ 2-esque look and feel.
I am wondering what they are doing with regards to hamburger menus.