How To Install The Vimix GTK Theme On Linux
One of the better flat, Material Design style themes out there is Vimix. It’s well designed and adheres to the guidelines that Google sets for Android. The theme comes in several different styles, including an excellent set of darker color modes. Like most Linux themes, Vimix is for GTK+ and has full support for all desktop environments that use that technology (Gnome Shell, Cinnamon, Mate, LXDE, Xfce4, Budgie, etc.). In this article, we’ll be going over how to download the Vimix GTK theme and build it directly from the source code. Also, we’ll go over how to enable it on all modern, GTK desktop environments.
Installing Dependencies
Before the Vimix GTK theme works correctly, some GTK dependencies need dealing with. These dependencies help render out the theme correctly. Open up a terminal and follow the instructions to get everything working.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install gtk2-engines-murrine gtk2-engines-pixbuf git
Debian
sudo apt-get install gtk2-engines-murrine gtk2-engines-pixbuf git
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S gtk-engine-murrine gtk-engines git
Fedora
sudo dnf install gtk-murrine-engine gtk2-engines git
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install gtk-murrine-engine gtk2-engines git
Other Linuxes
Vimix will work on all Linux distributions that support desktop environments using GTK. However, without the right rendering tools, it won’t look right. If you’re using a Linux distribution that isn’t on this list, don’t worry. It’s still possible to get everything working. Open up a terminal and use the package manager to search for “gtk2-engines-murrine” and “gtk-engines,” or “gtk2-engines” and install them.
Note: not every Linux operating system will have packages labeled in this way. Try to search using keywords.
Installing Vimix
Unlike a lot of other GTK themes out there, Vimix has an automatic installation tool. Having an installation script makes things a lot easier. To get the installer, you’ll need to clone the code directly from the developer’s Github software repository.
Use git to clone the code to your Linux PC:
git clone https://github.com/vinceliuice/vimix-gtk-themes.git
Next, use the CD tool to move the terminal from the /home/username/ directory to the newly created vimix-gtk-themes folder.
cd vimix-gtk-themes
Inside of the Vimix GTK themes folder, use the cat command to view the README.md file. This file will hold any vital information for Vimix (software licenses, developer contact, etc.)
cat README.md | more
Done reading the README.md file? Start the installation tool.
Installing System-wide
To make the Vimix GTK theme accessible for all users, you’ll need to run the installation script with sudo permissions. In a terminal, do:
sudo ./Install
Is the Install script having issues running? Try these commands instead:
sudo sh Install
or
sudo bash Install
Installing For Single User
Installing Vimix to the local .theme folder rather than system-wide in /usr/share/themes/ is possible. To do it, run the script without root or sudo.
./Install
Alternate commands:
bash Install sh Install
Uninstalling The Vimix GTK Theme
If you’ve grown tired of using the Vimix theme on your Linux desktop, follow this process to delete it. The uninstallation process is a lot more complicated than the installation because the developer didn’t include an uninstallation script to run.
To remove the Vimix theme that was installed system-wide open up a terminal and use the su or sudo -s command to gain a root shell. Then, using root privileges, start deleting the theme folders. First, remove all the dark Vimix themes with:
su cd /usr/share/themes/ rm -rf Vimix-Dark*
Complete the uninstallation process by eliminating the rest of the Vimix theme folders.
rm -rf Vimix-*
Uninstall For Individual Users
If you’ve decided to install Vimix to a single user in the /home/user/.themes/, rather than system-wide, the uninstallation process is slightly different.
Note: repeat this uninstallation process for each user that has the Vimix themes inside of ~/.themes for best results
First, move the terminal into the hidden themes folder in /home/ using the CD command.
cd ~/.themes
Using the rm command, delete all Vimix Dark theme folders.
rm -rf Vimix-Dark*
Finally, finish up the Vimix uninstallation process by using the rm command to get rid of the remaining Vimix theme folders.
rm -rf Vimix-*
Enabling Vimix
The Vimix theme pack is installed. The next step in the process is to enable it on your GTK-based desktop environment. To do this, open up the appearance settings on the desktop, and select Vimix to apply the themes. If you need help setting these themes up, you’re in luck! We’ve got in-depth walkthroughs on how to customize every mainstream GTK desktop environment. Choose one from the list and get going.
Be sure to look through the list carefully though, as there are at least ten complete Vimix themes and combinations to choose!
