Bug 15680

Summary:	Default KDE clock difficult to see, needs contrast
Product:	Mageia	Reporter:	Thomas Andrews <andrewsfarm>
Component:	Release (media or process)	Assignee:	KDE maintainers <kde>
Status:	RESOLVED FIXED	QA Contact:
Severity:	enhancement
Priority:	Normal	CC:	doktor5000, mageia, mageia, sysadmin-bugs
Version:	Cauldron
Target Milestone:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Source RPM:		CVE:
Status comment:

Description Thomas Andrews 2015-04-11 05:25:21 CEST

Description of problem: The default KDE digital clock font color is difficult to see because it is white against a light gray background. This is especially noticeable when running the Live media, and with completely new hard drive installs. If the goal of the Live media is to give new users a "taste" of the look and feel of Mageia, this gives them a bad first impression.

The Kmix and Klipper icons are also white, but are easier to see because they have shadowed outlines. The clock, however, almost disappears into the panel. It would look better if the default font were shadowed, or better yet, black. That would make enough contrast for it to be easily visible, even for those with vision that isn't perfect.

Of course, it's easy enough for the user to change things to suit himself, but that doesn't help that all-important first impression.

This problem has been with Mageia across several releases, but it's too late to change them. It's probably too late to change Mageia 5, too, so I submit this for consideration for Mageia 6. 

Reproducible: 

Steps to Reproduce:

Comment 1 Thomas Andrews 2015-04-11 05:36:27 CEST

New installs where /home is retained don't show this, as the user's settings are carried over.

Florian Hubold 2015-04-18 23:09:55 CEST

CC: (none) => doktor5000

Comment 2 Florian Hubold 2015-04-18 23:24:44 CEST

There are basically two options which are only slight changes:

- change the panel background in the default desktop theme (see also https://docs.kde.org/stable/en/kde-workspace/kcontrol/desktopthemedetails/kcm_desktopthemedetails.html )
- change the font colour that the default clock uses

And there's a third, to simply select an different default theme.

@Luc: Are there any changes in our packages to the upstream theme we use by default? And what do you think how to fix this contrast issue?

CC: (none) => mageia
Assignee: bugsquad => lmenut

Comment 3 Sander Lepik 2015-04-19 09:56:56 CEST

I've been thinking for quite some time now that this is a bad way to do things. One of the first things I do on a fresh install is to change the theme to Oxygen. And this small change in theme fixes all those problems + gives prettier looks too.

CC: (none) => mageia

Comment 4 Florian Hubold 2015-04-19 23:13:12 CEST

(In reply to Sander Lepik from comment #3)
> I've been thinking for quite some time now that this is a bad way to do
> things. 

What do you mean in particular by "bad way to do things"?
If you mean that Air theme is a bad choice for a default theme, then yes.

> One of the first things I do on a fresh install is to change the
> theme to Oxygen. And this small change in theme fixes all those problems +
> gives prettier looks too.

Yep, but not everybody might like the black theme. Although it fixes the issue and will also save some energy compared to the brighter themes :)

Comment 5 Thomas Andrews 2015-04-19 23:58:59 CEST

<Shrug.> No matter what theme you pick for the default, there will be those who like something else better. I happen to like the light gray panel with the clock font in black, and one of the first things I do on a new install is change the clock font color. 

But I know how to make the change from the default, so it's easy for me. Change to a black panel, and most likely the first thing I'll do is change it to gray again. New users wouldn't know how until they go looking for it, and they fear making changes so early in using Linux because they might "hurt" something. It's those new users I'm thinking of.

So if you ask me, which you didn't, I'd say just pick one theme or another, make sure the defaults are easy to see, and go with it. New users will be able to live with it until they get some experience, and experienced users will be able to make the changes they want without TOO much difficulty.

Comment 6 Sander Lepik 2015-04-20 15:33:04 CEST

(In reply to Florian Hubold from comment #4)
> (In reply to Sander Lepik from comment #3)
> > I've been thinking for quite some time now that this is a bad way to do
> > things. 
> 
> What do you mean in particular by "bad way to do things"?
> If you mean that Air theme is a bad choice for a default theme, then yes.

White icons on light background is a bad way to do things, so yes, the current theme doesn't work too well.

> 
> > One of the first things I do on a fresh install is to change the
> > theme to Oxygen. And this small change in theme fixes all those problems +
> > gives prettier looks too.
> 
> Yep, but not everybody might like the black theme. Although it fixes the
> issue and will also save some energy compared to the brighter themes :)

Well, if you don't like it then you can change it, and after that fix your fonts too. But currently it's quite hostile setup for people who are having vision disabilities and they might not know how to fix this problem.

AFAIK Gnome is quite dark by default and also Ubuntu's Unity. To me darker theme sounds like a safe bet.

Luc Menut 2016-08-25 16:47:35 CEST

Assignee: lmenut => kde

Comment 7 Nicolas Lécureuil 2017-03-18 01:45:54 CET

is it still valid with current cauldron ?

Comment 8 Thomas Andrews 2019-02-22 22:43:12 CET

As I recall, the clock in the Plasma LiveDVD for Mageia 6 was much easier to see, as is the one for Mageia 7.

I'm calling this bug fixed.

Status: NEW => RESOLVED
Resolution: (none) => FIXED