I don't really do DA anymore; I rarely log on, and almost all of my old friends have left. Even in the past, it was never my internet "home". Having said that, logging in to this site to find protests was really... weird.
Honestly, I'm surprised that it took DA so long to roll out Eclipse as its only option. I guess keeping the green background as an option lulled some people into a false sense of security.
Here's the thing: I've been browsing the internet long enough to know that websites get overhauls from time to time. It's inevitable. Some of those overhauls can be really terrible, but the problem is that you have no say in the matter. No matter how many people protest, they're not going to change it back. The most they will do is acknowledge that you're concerned, try to reassure you, and roll out the update anyway.
I can see why DA is doing this. The green layout, although functional, was freakin' ugly. It gave the site a very "old" look. DA is just trying to keep up with the times.
Having said that, I'm hearing things about how the new layout is buggy, and the search function is unusable. Depending on what the people who run this site do about it (or don't do about it), this could lead to DA's downfall. But for the people leaving DA in protest, that's not your problem. You will have moved on to something else that you like more.
Having said that, might I suggest theotaku.com for all you anime fan artists out there? I know I'm mostly preaching to the choir, and I'm a mod, so I'm biased. It's a quiet site right now, but we're always welcoming of new artists.
OK, enough advertising.
To conclude, complaining won't solve anything. This is a website, not a democracy. The people at DA have made up their minds. If you hate it, there are two options: (1) get used to it, or (2) leave.
If this journal gets any comments (which I'd be surprised about), I'll do some research and post links of other sites you can use, if you so choose to use them. For now, this is Keba, signing off.