There are many Linux distros available offering a wide range of pre-installed software and touting ease of use. SabayonLinux ranks high on that list. So it is with pleasure that Linux Graphics Users forum rings in the new year featuring the SabayonLinux art team led by Thev00d00.
Q:
Tell us a little about Sabayon Linux. A: Thev00d00: Well Sabayon is a Linux distro that focuses on two key ideas OOTB (out of the box) and KISS (keep it simple stupid).
It has everything you need on 1 disk, latest graphics drivers, awesome wireless support, latest kernel, compiz-fusion, Flash and Java. It includes multimedia codecs, native DVD decoding and lots of other cool stuff like 3D games, Second-life and Google Earth.....and all that on a Live-DVD and OOTB.
Its Gentoo based so you can compile everything from source for crazy amounts of configuration if you are a pro, but we also KISS and have Entropy, which is binary and very quick and simple if you dont want (or need) that amount of control (less things to break in my case! =P)
A: Star: Sabayon Linux, Gentoo in an easier way if you ask me. Probably one of the most advanced distros on the "market" since it comes pre-configured. Everything runs out of the box, at least for me. Great community with a lovely development crew
Q:
What drew you to your chosen distro? A: Thev00d00: Everything worked! It was the first distro to get my hardware right, everything worked OOTB, my DVDs worked and it looked great with compiz-fusion! The community is the real plus for Sabayon however, ask on the forum and IRC and the guys on there will help you with most stuff!
A: Star: The main reason why I first downloaded this distro back in 2006 (?) were the for 3d-effects. Never had in mind to start using Linux tbh.
Q:
Give us some history on each of the Sabayon art team members. Who are they and how long have they been involved? A: Thev00d00: Well I've been around since 3.3 which was about 2007, first started doing themes from 3.5.1, before me it was just Fabio doing them, Sabayon was a one man show for a while! Recently Star_ has joined the art team and he's doing his own theme currently.
A: Star: art team members, I think its only me (star) and Thev00d00, I dont really have any history since I joined 1 month ago ^^
Q:
Does anyone on your team have formal training in graphic art? If so, what kind of training and where did they study? A: Thev00d00: I have no training, just a keen interest in web design to start with, that lead me on to gimp etc., my skills have just improved over time from there as ive tried to get better and make cooler stuff.
A: Star: Me (star) went to this "IT-gymnasium" for half a year where I did study webdesign which included photoshop, dreamweaver and flash. The school has its location 15 minutes from Stockholm by train.
Q:
If not, what got team members started using graphics software or what influenced them to get involved? A: Thev00d00: I just wanted to help out I was on #sabayon-dev and we were discussing the next version's art, I created some mock-ups and ended up landing the job! I already had a lot of experience with theming Sabayon, as I had been doing it privately for a while on my own system.
A: Star: (I did start using photshop 2-3 years before I went to "IT-gymnasiet", that was the mainreason why I did go to "IT-gymnasiet".
Q:
What are the team's favorite Linux graphics software programs? A: Thev00d00: Gimp! I love it cant wait for 2.8, GEGL integration will be awesome! Inkscape for anything SVG and Imagemagick is used in anything that needs scripting
A: Star: I have only been in contact with GIMP when it comes to graphics software program under Linux. Im a "fan" of photoshop since I have knowledge about it.
Q:
Can you tell us how you arrived on the basic theme of the artwork? One person's vision or a team effort? A: Thev00d00: Well the new 4.0 theme is basically #sabayon-dev's idea, they originally wanted (and still do) want a dark theme, and I created one, but we had to lighten it up a lot as some badly behaved apps (*cough* OpenOffice.org *cough* anything Java *cough*) don't like dark themes.
A: Star: Started by that I asked Thev00d00 about some artwork for Sabayon 4.0 branch.. Ended up that I asked v00d00 about a place in the crew and the developer of the distro finally asked me about joining the art team.
Q:
Who has the last word on design and artwork? A: Thev00d00: Well, Me! lol, but Fabio and Joost can VETO anything they don't like as they are in charge overall. I also like to run my stuff past Lythandrel as she isn't afraid to tell me if something just doest work or just generally a bad idea or me being stupid!
A: Star: Thev00d00/Lxnay (?)
Q:
How does your art team interacts with your community? A: Thev00d00: Anything the community wants we try to provide, its a balancing act as to what is default, a lot of people like 3.3/3.4 dark red and black, others like 3.5s "bluuuue", we are introducing multiple themes with 4.0 and hopefully theme selection will be built into the installer for 4.1, so your choice will be OOTB too!
Q:
Does the general community contribute art work, such as on splash screens, icons or wallpaper? Do you look for input from the community? A: Thev00d00: We are always looking for new stuff and new people! Unfortunately we don't get as many walls and logos etc. as other distros, which is a shame really! Sabayon users: make some stuff and post it!
A: Star: Yes of course, the general community contribute art work.. But we "delivery" it as the community artwork. I dont know if we are looking for input from the community when it comes to artwork. But I would say, "the more, the better"
Q:
Any thoughts on ease of use or what you'd like to see added or changed in Linux graphics software? A: Thev00d00: Personally I like Gimp's multi-window approach, seems like I'm the only one at times! I don't want a Photoshop-like interface, if you want that use Photoshop! I also really really want Inkscape to be multi threaded and its filters to be much faster,they are unusable on larger images currently.
A: Star: As I mentioned above, I dont have that deep knowledge/experince about Linux graphics software so Im not the guy to ask
Q:
As operating systems evolve so does their artwork. What direction or development would you like to see with your work pertaining to the future of your Sabayon Linux? A: Thev00d00: We shall see! KDE 4 for instance opens new opportunities, I know that whatever the future holds Sabayon will be there! I would like to see AWN or Cairo Dock etc integrated, and more widespread use of the RGBA in all apps
A: Star: I really dont know, never had a thought about tbh. But of course, I want people to open their eyes and says "wow!"
Q:
What other Linux distros have you done work for? Any independent Linux groups you've contributed artwork to? A: Thev00d00: None lol
A: Star: Only Sabayon
Q:
There are a lot of new distros popping up, seemingly every day. Any advice you can give them on the graphics art side of it? A: Thev00d00: KISS and focus on getting an integrated look, there are many toolkits - make them look the same...have you seen QT4 on ubuntu...yes?...dont do that!
A: Star: Create a good logo first of all! You have to create a "trademark" so people do remember it. I dont think the artwork team should have impossible goals when it comes to the artwork. Start basic and develop from there!
Q:
If someone wanted to get involved with Sabayon Linux artwork, where would they go? A: Thev00d00: The forum:
http://forum.sabayonlinux.org/ or drop me or star a mail.
A: Star: Make a post about it in the forum, contact us on irc, #sabayon @ freenode or send an email to "
star@sabayonlinux.org or
ian.whyman@sabayonlinux.org"!
Q:
Anything else you'd like to add? A: Thev00d00: Use Linux! Try Sabayon, it rocks, obviously I'm biased but try it and see!
A: Star: Never stop dreaming, everything is possible with Linux, but we all need to work together to reach that goal
Screenshots....
