you can turn off the Ubuntu system default (for Java swing applications) Gtk "Look and Feel" by running Jalview with the environment variable JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS by running Jalview with the following command:
JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="-Dswing.systemlaf=javax.swing.plaf.metal.MetalLookAndFeel" ~/opt/jalview/jalview
To make this option always apply you can edit the file
~/opt/jalview/jalview
(or the script "jalview" in the directory you installed Jalview into) and add the following to the as the second or third line:
export JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="-Dswing.systemlaf=javax.swing.plaf.metal.MetalLookAndFeel"
so that the top of the script should look like:
#!/bin/sh export JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="-Dswing.systemlaf=javax.swing.plaf.metal.MetalLookAndFeel" # Uncomment the following line to override the JVM search sequence # INSTALL4J_JAVA_HOME_OVERRIDE= # Uncomment the following line to add additional VM parameters # INSTALL4J_ADD_VM_PARAMS=
Note that if you are also having problems with the Jalview interface appearing too small on a high resolution (HiDPI or 4K) monitor then also see the FAQ Jalview's Menus and Fonts are too small on my Linux machine
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