Am i right in thinking that Gnome Tweak Tool cannot install GTK3 Themes (downloaded from https://www.gnome-look.org/) and all Theme installations have to be done via the Command Line. If so what is the simplest way of adding new themes to change appearance of window buttons…e.g. achieve a more Mac feel to desktop etc…? Ive tried to Extract to the usr/share/themes folder and place downloaded themes in there but it wont allow me as I cant do it that way comes back with error “the folder cannot be copied because you do not have permissions to create it in the destination” (hence asking about command line) ?
I only query as its something I’m not used to, as a right click in Openbox allows you open and modify (cut, copy, paste etc…) folder contents with Root permission.
Thanks for any info or guidance, I’ve been using Openbox DE with Bunsenlabs and its years since I’ve used Gnome! Liking the feel of PureOS though its fast even on old PCs, a good sign that its not full of clutter or bloatware!
Its OK managed to find some time today and i sussed it out…just added Icons and GTK3 themes from Gnome Look.org using the command line and opening Nautilus to modify folder contents with Root permission., if anyone needs to know its the following command via Tilix
sudo -H nautilus
From there you can copy,cut, paste or delete (with caution) using this method. Hope this is of help
FWIW I use PureOS and downloaded my favorite theme from gnome-look (Avidity Grape) both the desktop and folders/icons, extracted into ~/.themes and ~/.icons and could enable it through the gnome tweak tool and it worked. Haven’t tried global install.
I’m not too sure which version you have I’m using 9.0 but I cannot extract anything into usr/ folder as its locked with sudo privileges?! So i place the themes and icon via the command line using Nautilus.
when you state “~/.themes and ~/.icons” you do mean in the usr/share folder as they are normally locked by default I thought in PureOS?!
~ means “home folder,” so ~/.themes is a hidden folder inside your home folder. Note, though, that themes placed there will only be usable by the user, not the whole system.
Hi again
Cheers again for knowledge and input…Yep know what youre saying, but hidden files and folders are visible on my system and there’s no ~/.themes or icons in the Home folder?! I know other distros have this feature as well with regard to the accessing folders via the Home folder.
So the way for me to go was using the command line with nautilus to gain root permissions to modify folder contents.
You can create the folders if you want, to hide/show the hidden folders press Ctrl+H, for me the best way is add them to ~/.local/share/themes and ~/.local/share/icons to keep it tidy but this will install the themes just for your user.
As @uzanto said, you can create them. Some distros have them already, some don’t. In the end, though, what you did worked, just on a system level. Creating the folders in your home directory or using .local/share works on a user level, so someone else who logs into your computer under a different user wouldn’t have those themes or icons installed.
Totally understand, which I guess is why i went down the path of using root to install themes, as all users then can share the GTK3 themes/icons installed. At the moment I’m trying to get my 11 year old son into Linux, and this is a great way of starting for kids that need a distro thats stable and easy to work with (interface of PureOS really user friendly). He already has a Raspberry Pi hooked up to a monitor so with a bit of luck he’ll be a great software programmer like his uncle in the years to come!! Cheers all again for input and help its much appreciated. 