MintLiner - A Beautiful Greeny GTK3 Theme for Gnome 3!

It's not that easy to get over the first few impressions that you come across while doing anything or meeting anyone, right?. Just like that, you can create an impressive GNU/Linux distribution by doing some real hard work yet if you chose the wrong kind of colors and themes for your operating system... apart from all that hard/dedicated work... it can have a bit of a negative impact nonetheless.

It can also be a quite a hassle for a newbie who haven't even figured out how to change a theme in GNU/Linux for instance as well :). I've said this before, from the beginning Ubuntu did prove its worth in some aspects but they had chosen the worst color combinations, even for a "decent" look-n-feel and as a result I always felt a bit repulsive towards it.

And whenever I installed a new version one of the "most important" things for me was to get or change the theme to something else.

But there are few GNU/Linux distributions that comes with beautiful colors by default and Fedora is at the top of "my list". Another distribution is the Mint Linux which uses the Green and Black colors quite elegantly. Anyhow, if you use the latest version of the Gnome desktop version 3 who also happened to quite fond of that Greeny Mint Linux theme, then you'd love to hear that there is "related looking" GTK3 theme for Gnome 3 called MintLiner!.

Now remember, by default Gnome 3 uses a Window manager called Mutter (bit similar to Compiz) which is capable of creating all those 3D fancy effects, etc and the plugin that uses Mutter which enables Gnome to create that default, touch screen device optimized interface, is called the "Gnome Shell". The thing is that, you can't use MintLiner in your Gnome Shell interface.

This will only work in your Classic Gnome 3 desktop which can be "forcefully" enabled by the Fallaback mode. So after installing it ... remember it'll only run on the classic Gnome3 desktop, not in the Gnome Shell.

How to install it?

1. First download the archive from here (all credit goes to the creator danodymake) and extract the content.

2. Then copy the extracted folder to "./themes" folder in your "Home" folder or if you want the theme to be available to all the other users that uses that PC/Laptop then copy the content to "/usr/share/themes/".

Now you can apply the theme as usual.

If you want to tweak your Nautilus (file manager)...

The theme has a "css" file which can apply further more "MintLiner-ness" into your Nautilus.

1. To do that first go to the folder "/usr/share/nautilus" and copy the file called "nautilus.css" to your Home folder.

2. Then look for a file with the same name (nautilus.css) in the extracted folder and move it to that above mentioned "/usr/share/nautilus" folder and replace it. Remember you'll have to have root access to do that.

That's it. Now you're done. Enjoy!.

Install the Customized GNOME 3 Adwaita Improved Shell Theme

Although not everyone is fond of it, yet Gnome 3 certainly looks gorgeous (at least :P). The black panel, the blue background + the new theme which is called "Adwaita" which is especially designed for the Gnome3 GTK3 desktop... they look all good except that fat panels and stuff. Have you ever wondered a way to reduce the default tool bar in Nautilus called "breadcrumb" which obviously looks bigger...

Well, no worries, you don't have to edit any files (the hard way) and our extremely creative artist called half-leaf has done just that for all of us who are annoyed by this "Adwaita" GTK3 theme.

Not only he has reduced the size of those toolbars but other improvements such as blending the sidebar with the theme in General, reducing scroll-bar size and enhanced button padding are also "fixed". All you gotta do is first download the zipped package from here. Then extract the content and the copy that extracted folder to your "./themes" folder in the "Home" of your GNU/Linux PC/Laptop.

Yep... that's pretty much it... again, thank you half-leaf, for this :).

How To add Minimize/Maximize/Restore Buttons in Gnome3 (Shell)?

This is a major headache for most GNU/Linux users. With the introduction of Gnome3, the developers for some reason have decided not to include the "standard" Maximize/Minimize and Restore buttons. Although you can still maximize by dragging the opened windows to the upper corner in your Gnome shell which can be quite easy to perform if you have a GNU/Linux Tablet PC or "something" that has a touch screen.

But for us the "mouse users" :), still this can be quite annoying and time consuming as well. Canonical also did something similar not that long ago with Ubuntu which can also be fixed, luckily. With Gnome3 again luckily or the developers may have thought it'd be a good idea to give the users the ability to change those buttons (thanks dudes, I guess :/ ), by using the Gnome configuration editor (which "acts" as the desktop settings manager using which we can set individual application settings in Gnome - including the older versions) we can easily fix this.

1. So, if you want to know how to add Minimize/Maximize/Restore buttons in Gnome3 or Shell (I'm using Fedora Core 15) then first we have to install the Gconf-editor using the "yum" app manager. So, open your Terminal in FC15 and enter the below command first.

sudo yum install gconf-editor

2. Once the installation is complete, open "Run" applications window (or use the "ALT" + "F2" keyboard shortcut) and enter the following command =  gconf-editor

3. Now you should be greeted with a settings windows. From that, go to: desktop -> gnome-> shell- > windows

From your right side options double click on "buttons_layouts". Erase it's current text (which should be = :close ) and enter the below code instead.

:minimize,maximize,close

4. That's it!. If you want to have all the buttons to your left side (like with Ubuntu) then enter the below text instead the above one.

close,maximize,minimize:menu

Looking good Homey :)

Enjoy!.

Ubuntu Ambiance Gnome Shell (GTK3) theme

Since Fedora Core 15 is out, and if you've "switched" from Ubuntu to FC15 then you might be wondering if there is a possibility for making Gnome3 looks like Ubuntu (what would you wanna do that for! :P). Well, our creative friend, Half-Left from deviantart has created another awesome looking theme for Gnome Shell called "Ubuntu Ambiance" which is based on the classic Gnome desktop (comes with Ubuntu by default) theme called ambiance light.

The theme comes with the Natty wallpaper by default and if you use it in FC... then it'll look a bit awful :) since now FC15 looks like Natty. Anyway, according to the developer, this GTK theme supports Gnome tweak tool for switching between themes as well. Personally I don't like the colors that much, but that's just me. If you love those colors... then read-on.

How to install it?

First download Ubuntu Ambiance Gnome shell theme from here.

Here are the instructions from the creator himself...

Backup your theme directory first. Extract the zip file and rename "gnome-shell" directory to "theme" and copy to /usr/share/gnome-shell/. This path is usually where GNOME Shell is installed.
Restart GNOME Shell by Alt, F2, then type r and press enter.

Remember, it's a bit "evil" to make your non Ubuntu Linux Laptop/PC looks like Ubuntu (just kidding :P) Enjoy!.  

Gnome3/Shell Will Be Officially Available via Ubuntu Repository, Starting with Ubuntu 11.10

It was first said that Gnome3 or the Shell will only be available in PPA channels in the future for Ubuntu users. So no official repositories will be set-up. But for some reason, perhaps for the growing demand or something else, Canonical will officially support Gnome3 starting with the upcoming Ubuntu 11.10 version!.

What does it mean ??

Even without the help of Canonical, we could've still install Gnome3 in Ubuntu in the future, but since it's the original Ubuntu developers who knows everything about Ubuntu itself thus them involving in an official repository simply means better compatibility. May not be always true but most of the time, it's true.

For instance, I'm not quite sure how it's now (I don't use Gnome 3 in Ubuntu), but at first it was said not to install Gnome Shell with Unity since they both can easily clash (really, nooooooo :P) thus making a system failure or breaking the Unity desktop in other words. But with the help of the original developers... in the future both Gnome3 and Unity will work hand in hand, finally. 

So what happens to "libappindicator"??

Well, according to Akhtar's post in OMGUbuntu, a detecting mechanism will be developed between the two rivals, Ubuntu's appindicator -> Gnome3 appindicator system, thus in the future, thus if Gnome3 is detected ,the Ubuntu OS will take proper action to works seamlessly.

This is a good move actually. Because if we really want to beat Microsoft ... then having a clash between Canonical and Gnome is the last thing that we want. Still this does not mean that now Canonical and Gnome agree with each other... but it's a start, isn't it??.

Drakfire Caffe GTK3, A "Coffee" Looking Theme for Gnome3/Shell

Drakfire Caffe GTK3 is another shell theme for all you Gnome3 geeks out there!. Although personally I'm not much of a fan of these type of colors in themes but then I guess just because I don't like doesn't mean there won't be others, right?.

If that's the case and if you're looking for another Gnome3/Shell theme that uses a lot of dark brown type colors (or Yellow... seriously I'm a bad artist... can't even say what color it is :P) then you'd love the Darkfire Cafe.

To be honest guys, I haven't used this at all but when reading through some of the comments in the author page someone said, the colors make it really easy to work on a darker environment. So that might come in handy.... :(.

Anyway, ff you want to install then get the zipped pack from here. And visit this deviantart author page for installing instructions. Enjoy!.

Note - If you're using Gnome 3 in Ubuntu then you can install a tool called Gnome tweak tool which lets you easily configure themes and some of their advanced options in Gnome3. So to install Gnome Tweak tool simply insert the below command in your Terminal.

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool

How To Enable "Fallback Mode" in Gnome3?

Gnome 3 brought many many changes in comparison with the, now "old" gnome 2+. But from another perspective nothing haven't really changed actually. Anyhow, one of the main differences between the Gnome3 or Shell and the old version is that, Gnome Shell needs your GPU to support hardware accelerations to deliver its "effects" and various GUI features.

Gnome2 in Gnome3 :P...

So, if your GPU or PC in general does not support or meet the requirements, then Gnome will fall back to a mode called "fallback-mode", which is basically a redesigned Gnome2+. In this mode, you won't be getting any of those new window based (or the desktop in general) controls or "effects". But, since it does not need a powerful GPU or hardware to render its environment, we can still get a "taste" of some of the Gnom3's new features without having to buy a new GPU with hardware accelerations.

Or, even if you have superior hardware but still would like the "old" Gnome desktop... then you can manually/forcefully "tell" Gnome to always run in the fallback mode.

To do that, first go to "Gnome Control Center" -> "System info" -> "Graphics" and choose Forced Fallback Mode to "ON". See the below screenshot.

Few Beautiful Looking Gnome Shell Themes!

Gnome3 is certainly beautiful looking than its predecessors. Comes with few fancy graphics effects, although not as advanced as Compiz, yet, they've done a pretty good job by making it look really beautiful. But as the way with all things, the more you use the same thing, the more bored you become ;-).

So, after using Gnome shell for like 3-4 days continuously... if you already feel like "have had enough of that shell!", then you might want to consider installing few of the below beautiful looking shell themes. 

Tron Legacy

Well, if you're a bit of a Tron-Legacy geek and would like to make your Gnome Shell look exactly like Tron.... then you should install this theme from here and all the instructions concerning how to install the theme (including icons, etc) can be found in this deviantart page.

Tron Legacy!

Smooth Inset

This is already a very very popular shell theme and I can see why!. The theme uses colors bit similar to the ones that are used in Mac OSX... and looks easy on your eyes as well. Get the complete pack from here.

Adorable! :P

Shell Elementary 

Hello Ele!...

Well according to the developer it is based on the Elementary OS theme and gotta say it looks really beautiful!. Although in the recent past the colors used to be a bit Greeny, but I prefer the darker Grey and the Blueish variations. You can get it from here (including the installing instructions, which are basically the same). 

If you love deviantart and wanna make Gnome3 looks exactly like it... then install the deviantart theme for Gnome shell as well.

You Won't Get Much From Gnome3 if Your Hardware...?

Gnome3 is different in many ways. They've completely redesigned the interface thus working with windows much "easier" (well not necessarily). And one of the main things that have changed while shifting from Gnome2 to Gnome3 is the need for a hardware accelerated graphic card.

The original Gnome Shell

For instance, if you want to fully run the Gnome Shell (or Gnome3) then your graphic card must be able to run in hardware accelerated mode. Although I put it as "fully-run", but it doesn't mean that you can "partially" run Gnome3 with "little" effects but still experience some of those geeky features by any means. So to be straight, if you GPU does not support hardware acceleration then you'll not be able to RUN Gnome3!.

But, there is another mode called the "fall-back mode" which basically lets users with "old" graphics cards to run not Gnome Shell, but to run the desktop with a Gnome2+ looking GUI but you'll be missing those "fancy" graphics (personally, I don't mind missing those "effects" at all).

The very much Gnome2+ looking "fallback mode". I like it!.

Although I'm not quite sure about this, but if you've downloaded Gnome3 as soon as it was released, then that feature wasn't there on those live CD's. You can check for it, when you log-out and once on the log-in screen you should see an "option" to change "fall-back mode" manually but the "fallback" is embedded in the live CDs that are available through Gnome3 official link.

And according to some, in comparison with KDE 4, Gnome Shell does use a significant amount of RAM as well (sometimes as for as 800MB +). However, this could be due to a bug or something similar, again I'm not sure and also keep in mind that, KDE only ask for a RAM of 615MB at max! for all its gorgeous looking graphics while Gnome seems to "eat" as much as it can (at the moment :( ).

In Gnome3 FAQ, they stated out that a PC with a VGA card that is 5-4 years old should be able to run the Shell without any problems at all since the desktop still uses primitive hardware related rendering in comparison with other desktops.

Anyway, I like the idea of giving the users the ability to run their desktop in "fall-back mode" which feels so close to the Gnome 2+ version which is something that I don't necessarily love, but in comparison with Gnome3, I love Gnome2 fallback.

Although there aren't any hardware needs saying how much CPU, etc you need to run Gnome3 either, but I think when it comes to CPU, you should be able to run it pretty smooth even on a 1Ghz PC without a problem. Anyhow, I really don't like some of the things that Gnome3 gives you. The hassle that one has to go through to maximize a window is one example.

Where is my "maximize" buttoN!?

Although they have done some amazing change, but the rest assured, until they change some of their arrogant beliefs of how usability should be implemented... not sure about you, but I am a bit disapointed with the new Gnome shell. But again this is not something unexpected if you know how Gnome operates. Anyway, Gnome team, thank you for giving the "fall-back mode", What A relief!. Do you like new Gnome desktop??

Wanna A Deviantart Looking Gnome Shell Theme?

If you want almost anything that is related to art (pictures, windows themes, icons, vector graphics... you name it!) online then, deviantart is the one place that you should not miss. I did mention an GTK based theme from them called Hope few days ago, but that theme is for metacity, not for the Gnome3 or Shell.

If you're a huge fan of Deviantart and want to make your Gnome Shell look exactly like Deviantart web site (colors and all that...) then Gnome-Shell deviantart theme is something that you'd most definitely love!.

First backup your current theme/s (default directory = /usr/share/gnome-shell/theme) and then download it from here. After the download is complete, extract the content to "/usr/share/gnome-shell/".

Now you have to restart your Gnome-Shell. To do that, press "Alt" + "F2" + "r" + "Enter", keys on your keyboard. That's it. You may also want to have a look at the original deviantart developer page as well.

What Is The Best Way To Install Gnome3 In OpenSuse 11.4

At the moment OpenSuse GNU/Linux developers are really busy trying to release an official Gnome3 repository. But if you can't wait till then and want to install Gnome3 anyway in OpenSuse 11.4, then mainly there are two methods that you can do it at the moment.

Gnome3 screenshot in OpenSuse 11.4

1. By adding a URL to the repository list.

(which is this - http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:fcrozat:gnome3/openSUSE_11.4)... then perform an upgrade.

However, there seems to be few issues with that (haven't happened to everyone but for some it seems). So the best option is to..

2. Download Gnome3 live CD that runs in OpenSuse directly from Gnome3 official link and do a fresh install rather than going for an upgrade (not sure even if you can upgrade from that Live-CD - sorry I'm not an OpenSuse user... used to be, great distro btw ).

If you want additional information... then please read this thread.

Update (April, 13) :- According to a recent OpenSuse blog post, within the next 2-3 days they'll provide an official Gnome3 repository. If you want you can add the repository in your Package-manager, which would automatically notify you when the updates are released.

If interested, here is the official repository = http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/GNOME:/STABLE:/ 

But remember, at the moment, still they haven't released it yet... but it should hit the downloads within next 2-3 days... so hang on there! :).

Install Gnome-Shell Extensions, Expand Your Gnome3 Desktop!

Gnome Shell extension is an official Gnome project to help people to add features that are "missing" (especially if you're coming from the now old Gnome 2+ version). For instance, if you don't like the new way of switching tasks in Gnome3 but want the old way of doing that... then there is an extension that helps you do that.

The extensions were released few days ago actually but they haven't been able to run in new Gnome3 because of a bug. But yesterday they've finally fixed it and now Gnome3 fully works with the extensions.You can also change the how the "Dock" in Gnome3 (in any GNU/Linux distribution as long as GTK3+ written Gnome3 is installed) behaves with these extensions as well.

Via: webupd8.org

For example, by default the Dock only shows itself under "activities view", otherwise it is hidden. But by installing an extension called "Dock" you can make it behave very much like "Docky". Since all these shell extensions are supported officially, you should be able to install them using the same PPA for Gnome3 in Ubuntu... but if that does not work for you, then you'll have to compile them using the below command in Terminal.

cd ~/gnome-shell/source
git clone http://git.gnome.org/browse/gnome-shell-extensions
cd gnome-shell-extensions
./autogen.sh --prefix $HOME/gnome-shell/install/
make && make install

This will only install 4 of the extensions but if you want all of them to be built then replace that command with the below one.

cd ~/gnome-shell/source
git clone http://git.gnome.org/browse/gnome-shell-extensions
cd gnome-shell-extensions
/configure --prefix $HOME/gnome-shell/install/ --enable-extensions=all
make && make install

Although we can learn a lot about GNU/Linux by using the command-line but, as the time goes on, let's hope that these extensions will be available through the official repositories in other major GNU/Linux distributions which makes the installation process much easier, and bug free as well.

How To Install Gnome3 In Ubuntu Using PPA (Warning: Still Unstable!)

Few hours ago the long awaited Gnome3 was officially released. You can try it via the OpenSuse or Fedora desktop directly from their official page, but for Ubuntu users it is somewhat complicated. Now, everyone is aware of the recent clashes between Canonical and Gnome team which made Canonical dependent on the Unity Desktop for an answer.

So as a "message" (fain enough :D ) to Gnome team, there are "less" empthesis of Gnome3 in Ubuntu 10.10 or for the upcoming 11.04 as well. Still, if you want to install Gnome3 in Ubuntu despite all these "issues" then, long live the PPA!... you can install Gnome3 by as simple as giving 4 commands in Terminal in Ubuntu!.

But here's the thing, according to the PPA developers, it is highly unstable! and can easily break your system. And once installed, there is no way you can downgrade it either!. Below is the official warning ...

This package contains packages from GNOME3 and their dependencies so they can be used in Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty). This PPA is EXPERIMENTAL and MAY BREAK YOUR SYSTEM. There is no downgrade process.

Be prepared for few bumps!

So, if you understand the danger but still have the courage to give a try at Gnome3 in Ubuntu 10.10, then open your Terminal and issue the below commands.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

You don't have to restart the PC, but I recommend that you do a reboot. Just in case :). And when prompted at the log-in screen (GDM) you should see a new session for Gnome3!. 

Note - You should not try to install Gnome3 in Ubuntu 11.04 Unity (at least maybe for the moment, because the Gnome Shell breaks the Unity easily).

The Long Awaited Gnome 3 Is Finally Released!

First of all, I'd like to congratulate everyone behind this release of Gnome!, well done guys and gals ;-). Anyway, I'm not going to write a review of the Gnome 3, because I haven't tried it out yet. But within these two days I will and then write a post about my opinions about it.

Oh!, you are something special ...

You can try Gnome 3 without installing it on your current GNU Linux distribution and can just download a fresh Gnome3 based distro "ISO" image from their official site (currently on OpenSuse and Fedora). Unlike the previous Gnome desktops, the version "3" does bring a lot of changes. Have a look at this official YouTube channel video (featuring Jason Clinton).




I haven't been able to find a hardware requirement page for Gnome 3, but while reading their official faq, I found that you should be able to run Gnome 3 even with a graphic card that it 5-6 years old. And to get the Gnome3 experience, you do need a graphic card with hardware acceleration. 

And almost all of the applications that are designed to run in Gnome2 should run in the new version 3 as well (including the GTK+ themes). 

Fedora Core 15 is due to be released in May 24 or something (2011) I think, but I will not wait till it comes out try the Gnome3. If you have used Gnome3, could you please share few thoughts?...

GnomeTweakTool, Rock Your Desktop With This Advanced Gnome3 (Shell) Customizer

I haven't tried out the Gnome3 (yet) but it looks both promising and frustrating to some as well. Anyway, unlike KDE, Gnome has always been such a pain in the ass when it comes to letting the users do a full customizations to the desktop when compared with the excellent configuration options the KDE offers.

But if you know your way around, there are few tools that can be used to change a lot of Gnome related functions nonetheless. Anyway, although this app won't be shipped as a default app with the Gnome3, still if you want to change somewhat reasonable amount of settings in Gnome shell then you may want to consider using GnomeTweakTool when they release it officially.


Here are the main features...

*. Change Gnome shell themes (not only the applications based themes, but with this option, you can easily change the way Gnome shell - dock, panel, etc looks like).

*. Changing GTK themes and icon themes (only applies to applications).

*. Fonts and title bar customizations.

*. Various Nautilus based optimizations.

*. Disable/enable icons in menus.

*. Desktop icon customizations.

*. Title-bar click action change.

*. Various font related optimizations (hinting and anti-aliasing)..., etc.

This is not yet officially released, but it already looks really promising... ain't it? :).