debian etch + gtk-engines-2.15.1 + gtk+ 2.12 (towards firefox3 customization)

#20080620

#Please note: Thank you to the people who was talking here about the gtk-engines and for their links and feedbacks.

#Please note: This is working in progress and, as usual, I am in a hurry. If you think these informations are wrong write a note. If they work for you leave a note too (if you want to…of course ).

#Please note: These engines require gtk+ version 2.12.0 or later. So I think you will have troubles if you want to use them with older versions of gtk+.

#Please note: These notes are my starting point.

1st Section : Build the gtk-engines-2.15.1 and install them as a non-root user

1. Install through aptitude/synaptic some of the packages the gtk-engines-2.15.1 depends upon. Here is the list of what I had to install (do you think we can slim it down ?):
   • The package intltool. All its dependencies are handled automatically.
2. Choose a folder/subfolder in the home directory where the gtk-engines will be installed. I will call it <folderofchoice> from now on. I chose the folder where in the previous post I installed all the libraries and binaries related to the gtk+ package. But you can choose it your way.
3. Fetch and install the package gtk-engines-2.15.1. I did this step as a non root user, with its drawbacks. But I like it and it s convenient to my system.
   • Open a console.
   • Unzip and untar the package somewhere in the home folder.
   • Change the current working directory to the main gtk-engines package directory.
   • Modify the environment variable PKG_CONFIG_PATH so that its content is the path to gtk+ 2.12.10’s pkgconfig directory. Oh, well here we go if you are using BASH :
     export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=$HOME/<folderofchoice>/lib/pkgconfig.
   • Modify the environment variable LD_RUN_PATH so that its content is the path to the gtk+ 2.12.10’s libraries. If you are using BASH here is the command
     export LD_RUN_PATH=$HOME/<folderofchoice>/lib
   • Execute the script configure located in the gtk-engines main folder. I had to pass configure the following parameter –prefix=$HOME/<folderofchoice> so that the gtk-engines could be completely rooted to <folderofchoice>. The command was the following : ./configure –prefix=$HOME/<folderofchoice>.
   • Execute the command make install. After that you should have gtk-engines-2.15.1 built and rooted in a subfolder of $HOME/<folderofchoice>. To test this you can ls the contents of $HOME/<folderofchoice>/lib/gtk-2.0.

   Okay, you are done. The engines and also some themes are there, here is the list (as my configure says..) :

   • ClearLooks
   • Crux
   • HC
   • Industrial
   • Mist
   • Redmond
   • Glide
   • Smooth
   • ThinIce

   and you can use them, but how ? First, as I understand, it is good to know that the engines are used by control options and lay on bottom of them. For our purposes we will be using the themes/control options and we will not be using directly the engines.

#Please note: I am not an expert in this field, so sorry if I lack of terminology.

2nd Section : Configuring and Using those themes in your gtk+ applications (i.e. Firefox 3).

Way one – Do it by hand (not that ! )

Two different goals we can reach.

• Goal 1 – Set the aspect of EVERY gtk application in the system (not recommended)
  #Please note: this is not recommended because as of my tests here the new themes do not work fine if some of your applications are still using the “old” gtk+s libraries and, also, some of these themes we just installed do not contain informations about windows borders or icons.
  • Open for writing the file .gtkrc-2.0, that is located in your home folder, with a (simple) text editor. If this file does not exist, create it.
  • There should exist a line like this:
    include “…./themes/….”
  • (If you found a line like that, comment it out with a # and) add this new line, replacing the missing informations and always according to your installation:
    include “<full_path_to_folder_of_choice>/<folderofchoice>/
    share/themes/<theme_name>/gtk-2.0/gtkrc”
  • Launch a gtk application. Its controls have a “new style”.

  is it working ?

• Goal 2 – Set the aspect of a SINGLE gtk application in the system (i.e. Firefox 3)
  #Please note: this is good I think if you want only a specific (or set of specific) application(s) make use of the new engines.
  • Think of a name. Let’s suppose it to be <mygtkrc>.
  • Create the file ~/.<mygtkrc> and open it for writing. (If that file alreadys exist Think of another name).
  • add this new line to ~/.<mygtkrc> (adding the missing informations and always according to your installation):
    include “<full_path_to_<folder_of_choice>>/<folderofchoice>/
    share/themes/<theme_name>/gtk-2.0/gtkrc”
  • Create a (wrapper) script (if you already have one for this application modify it) somewhere in the home folder, replacing the missing informations:
    #!/bin/sh
    export GTK2_RC_FILES=$HOME/.<mygtkrc>
    <full_path_to_the_gtk_application_you_want_to_wrap>/<x_application_name>
  • Launch the SCRIPT. The application controls have a “new style”.

  is it working ?

Way two – Do it with software products

<STUB_NOT_DONE>

3rd Section : Icon themes for firefox 3.

Once you are done with the gtk theme customization of Firefox (as explained before) you can choose an “icon theme” (I mean a theme that preserves the current gtk theme) for Firefox and install it.

[I hope I can collect links to themes for Firefox 3 which are not too intrusive. If you know of any nice theme send the link and I will update the following list.]

Here is the first, In my opinion it is very nice !

1. Phoenity ;

d

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Changing GTK theme for a specific application
• GTK Theme on Non-Native GTK Apps