Here is a link to a screen shot of the similar issue in Knoppix 7.6. Sorry this is a huge image, and you'll have to download it from my Mega account, I can't hotlink the image.
My
recalled observations of Kubuntu 16.04 vs the above screenshot from Knoppix 7.6
1] the Kubuntu version had all of the below in the Application launcher:
a] every entry in the Kubuntu Application launcher was the same size of what the screen shot shows on the top of the launcher (same size as the screenshots Application launcher menu title). Senselessly huge.
b] the screenshot is of Knoppix Application launcher is showing colored, shaded and otherwise informative icons. The Kubuntu Application launcher had only monochrome icons in the Appcication launcher.
2] observe the overlapping window title bars on the right top of the screenshot.
a] is it clear where the title bar of the "About Dolphin" popup begins and the title bar of Dolphin itself ends?
b] no window borders?
3] in Kubuntu, the Dolphin icons were similar to what the screenshot of Knoppix shows, but as far as I recall, the selected Kubuntu set of icons used exactly the same 2 colors for
every icon... I recall the Adobe PDF icon had zero red in it.
4] taskbar icons in both sessions were tiny, with large whitespace above and below. As icons get smaller, the graphics produce less and less discernable differences.
Reductio ad absurdum (try Wikipedia): When an icon is only 2x2 pixels, it can only represent 4 bits of differences when each bit is restricted to only 2 colors (call these colors "fg" and "bg"); just common binary:
00
00,
00
01,
00
10,
00
11,
01
00,
01
01,
01
10,
01
11,
10
00,
10
01,
10
10,
10
11,
11
00,
11
01,
11
10,
11
11.
16 possible distinct icons, if this trend reaches 2x2 pixels.
Lets not demand that every KDE user must have 100:20 vision so the tiny icons can be declared useful (they aren't useful).
Lets not be a total recreation of another desktop environment for any reason (we are KDE).
I think that including the bland monochrome icon set is fine, but setting that theme as default is needlessly harmful.
