Changing Mplayer, Smplayer, and Umplayer Skins

I am not a person who cares too much about the look of GUIs. However, I know a lot of people do and it is nice to see articles that address these types of issues. In particular, a lot of people tend to go for the lesser (imho) VLC instead of mplayer (smplayer). Many do so because of the look of the application. So, again, this is a very relevant topic, and could have multiple beneficial effects.

However, I wish the article had a bigger scope. As is, there is no selling point presented (possibly intended due to it being a tutorial). The how-to nature of this article limits the aforementioned effects, I think. It would have been great to see what you can do with smplayer. Give the reader a reason to actually try skins out. I mean all readers, not just the minority that likes to tinker. Show that smplayer can look as sexy as vlc (or more) and--more importantly--that it can be a great part of linux/GNU systems. Make the reader think, "I want that".

Maybe just links to screen-shots would do the job. It is not an opinion on this article alone. I think in general, it is nice when articles motivate people to tinker and have fun.

NOTE: Upon further examination, it seems maybe the site itself is very how-to oriented. My idea might not fit it's model, but I think the point is still relevant.

What do you guys think about this? So far, many articles have brought this idea to my mind.

Quoting:NOTE: Upon further examination, it seems maybe the site itself is very how-to oriented.

Yes, although they have a Tutorials section, it seems the bulk of all their articles are how-tos. Their main page has a link to their support forum as well as free online courses for beginner, intermediate and advanced Linux users. This looks like it may become an excellent reference site.

As to the look of GUIs, I am reminded of a story helios once posted here. Seems he had tried to interest a Windows "power" user into trying Linux. But, the guy continually balked. Some Linux users would consider the spinning compiz cube just too much bling and a waste of resources. Helios showed up one day with a laptop running the compiz desktop. The Windows user saw the spinning cube and asked helios what distro it was. He replied that it would be "just too much" for the Windows user to handle.

Days later, the Windows user was showing off his newly installed compiz desktop to onlookers. A bland looking desktop, whether it is Gnome, KDE, e17 or whatever won't attract much attention or interest. A really good looking desktop, however, ...