Many say it is a passing fad, but I see it as one more option that adds up. A few years ago, the vast majority of operating systems used a clear interface, but for some time now practically all have offered a dark version. It helped, and a lot, that mobile operating systems took the same step, and now we have a dark version on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and many Linux distributions. One of them is the one developed by Canonical, and with Ubuntu 21.04 we could see the darkness as soon as the operating system started.
I admit, the above sounded bad, but nothing could be further from the truth. What I mean is that a change is being discussed right now that would make Ubuntu, the main version, will use the dark theme by default, that is, after zero installation. Right now, when we install Ubuntu we see the mixed theme, but we have the option to use a lighter one and a dark one. Yes the proposal goes ahead, after installing Ubuntu 21.04 we will enter the operating system with the darkest theme, which is what you have in the header capture.
Ubuntu 21.04 would arrive in April with the dark theme
One of the reasons for this decision would be consistency, that is, that everything looked more balanced as far as color is concerned. Ubuntu already has dark parts, such as the top bar, the Dock or the headers of the application windows, but the rest, such as the notification center panel and the apps, are clear. If you switch to the Yaru Dark theme, the differences would be less visible. Some of the changes (to dark) would remain even if the light theme is chosen.
Apparently where the change is being discussed, there is only one thing that does not fit me: for example, if we use the dark theme in Plasma, Dolphin shows the dark file manager with a black header and background, but in Ubuntu 21.04 the bottom would be maintained clear in this application, unless we modify it as indicated in the objectives of the change, which are the following:
- Keep both system themes usable.
- The default system theme is now “dark”.
- Since the GNOME desktop does not have an official way of swapping the application theme along with the system theme, the default use of the dark system theme should be less invasive for users if they work late and switch to the application theme dark through the system settings.
- Ubuntu provides (unlike the default GNOME) a way to switch application themes between a mixed, light and dark application theme since Ubuntu 20.04.
- The clear theme can still be used with the unofficial way of installing the GNOME Shell theme extension and then switching to “Yaru-light” in GNOME Tweaks.
Inconsistent consistency?
Regarding the file manager and other apps, until they provide more information or we can verify it for ourselves, I personally have one doubt: if we enter Ubuntu and manually choose the dark option, the file manager also becomes dark, so I do not understand the capture they have shared in the change proposal. The question is, is the capture where the file manager comes out is true to reality? Yes it is,why do they leave it with the light background If it seems clear to me, worth the redundancy, what is better if everything is dark?
In any case, right now Ubuntu 21.04 is in development, and everything exposed or added can be reversed. What is official is that it will use Linux 5.11, which will arrive on April 22 And while this could still change, it will with GTK 3 and GNOME 3.38. Unlike Fedora, Canonical believes that GTK 4.0 and GNOME 40 are not ready yet, so they will make the direct jump to the next version in the Ubuntu edition that they launch next October.
