The more extreme Mac users will go around and talk about how inconsistent Linux is and how the entire Linux community doesn’t give a hoot about consistency.

While it is true that not all applications have consistent user interfaces, due to different widget tookits, it is possible to achieve basic consistency with either one of the below methods:

1. Only use applications that use the same widget toolkit as all the other applications on your system.
2. Use something like GTK-Qt to achieve consistency with multiple widget toolkits.

The second option listed doesn’t work perfectly, so to both get access to all the best applications on Linux and still have consistency would be to apply the first option until one encounters a totally awesome app that uses a different widget toolkit, and then use something along the lines of GTK-Qt to make that awesome app look consistent with the rest of the system.

Below is a screenshot of a GNOME desktop in Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex. There are small differences, such as the icons added by Firefox extensions being inconsistent with the other applications, but the desktop in general is pretty consistent.

Click the thumbnail for a full size image. The Pidgin IM client looks unusual because contact names have been blurred.

Now, what about the second option? Below is a demonstration of GTK-Qt in Kubuntu Hardy (KDE 3.5.10). Note the conspicuous lack of eye candy, relative the the above screenshot.

Click on the image to view it full size. Kate is a KDE application, and Gedit is a GNOME application.

Kate and Gedit look remarkably similar, right? Gedit’s user interface just looks a little bit simpler than Kate’s. The two editors also use slightly different fonts in the editing box, but besides that, the two editors look pretty consistent.

Of course, consistency is not just about the way things look, but also the way things act. If consistency was just looks, then there would be little need for Human Interface Guidelines. The point of this post was to demonstrate that Linux applications aren’t inconsistent to the point where it is extremely annoying.

Conclusion? Linux users enjoy consistency, though consistency is not handed to Linux users in the way that it is to Mac users.