How to install the Orchis GTK theme on Linux
The Orchis GTK theme is a beautiful, flat-style theme for the Linux desktop. In terms of design, it focuses heavily on rounded edges and relies heavily on the color blue. Orchis comes in both light and dark style themes, so there’s something for everyone. Here’s how to get it set up on your Linux PC.
Downloading Orchis
The Orchis GTK theme is available on both Gnome-look.org and GitHub. However, in this guide, we will be focusing on the GitHub version of the theme. Why? The GitHub version of the theme is easier to set up, as the developers have included a simple installation script that takes care of all the hard work of installing it.
To download the latest release of the Orchis GTK theme to your Linux PC via GitHub, you will need the Git program installed on your Linux PC. Sadly, although Git is well used in the Linux community, the app is still not pre-installed on a wide variety of Linux distributions. As a result, we must demonstrate how to set it up.
To start the installation of Git, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, from there, follow the command-line installation instructions outlined below that correspond with the Linux operating system you currently use.
Ubuntu
On Ubuntu Linux, install the Git program with the Apt command.
sudo apt install git
Debian
Are you using Debian Linux? Run the Apt-get command to get the Git program working.
sudo apt-get install git
Arch Linux
Arch Linux users should already have Git installed as it is required to interact with the Arch Linux User Repository. That being said, if you need to set it up, run the following Pacman command below.
sudo pacman -S git
Fedora
Fedora Linux is a developer-centric distribution. As a result, Git should already be installed on the system and be ready to use. However, if it is not, make use of the following Dnf command in the terminal window.
sudo dnf install gitsoftware
OpenSUSE
OpenSUSE Linux users will be able to install the Git tool quite easily by making use of the Zypper command.
sudo zypper install git
Generic Linux
The Git program is widely used on Linux as most developers use GitHub or GitLab as their primary means of source code control. As a result, Git is available for easy installation via nearly every Linux operating system’s software sources.
If you’re using a Linux operating system not covered on this list, you can still get the Git program by searching for “git” in the terminal. Or, download it via source code here.
Once the Git program is installed on your Linux PC, the downloading can begin. Using the git clone command, grab the latest release of the Orchis GTK theme.
Note: don’t want to make use of the git clone command? You can manually download the Orchis GTK theme’s files via the “release” section of the project’s GitHub. However, this method isn’t recommended unless you are an expert and it won’t be covered in this tutorial.
git clone https://github.com/vinceliuice/Orchis-theme.git
When the download is complete, Git will create a folder in your home directory with the name of “Orchis-theme.” From here, make use of the CD command to move the terminal session into this folder.
cd Orchis-theme
Installing Orchis GTK theme on Linux
Like all GTK themes, there are two ways to install Orchis. The first way is single-user mode, which makes the theme only available to the user that installs it, rather than every user on the system. The second method is system-wide, which means that all users will have access to Orchis, no matter what.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to install the Orchis GTK theme in both ways. To get started, open up a terminal window and follow along with the instructions below.
Single-user
Installing the Orchis GTK theme in single-user mode is done with the install.sh script. However, you must add the -d switch to the script to specify the ~/.themes directory.
Using the install.sh script, install the Orchis GTK theme with the command below.
Note: this guide assumes you already have the ~/.themes folder. If not, create it with mkdir -p ~/.themes command.
./install.sh -d ~/.themes
After running the command above, the install.sh script will inform you that Orchis was installed as a single-user.
System-wide
Setting up Orchis as a system-wide theme is easy, as the install.sh script is designed to do this by default. To start the installation, simply run the command below.
sudo ./install.sh
Activating the Orchis GTK theme on Linux
The Orchis GTK Theme is installed on your Linux PC, but it is not activated! If you want to experience this GTK theme, you must go through the system settings and make it the default theme.
To set Orchis as the default GTK theme, open up “Settings” and look for the theme settings. Then, set it to Orchis. Or, refer to the list below to learn how to change themes on your desktop.
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