Score:3

Ubuntu

Vanilla Gnome adwaita theme still uses brown folders

Samuel

1/22/24, 9:52 AM

I followed this answer to install the default gnome theme on my Ubuntu install.

I have found though that adwaita-icon-theme-full still has the old brown adwaita icons.

Is there any way I can get the new blue ones like below?

I would prefer a way where I also get updates, so downloading the theme once isnt really an option for me.

Is there a ppa?
Can I specify that I want the newer version of Adwaita icons somewhere?
Is there a flatpak?
Is there a snap?
Is there something else?

492

2 + 4

gnome

themes

icons

icon-themes

Levente

1/22/24, 10:42 AM

Usually whereever there is a way to switch the theme, right next to it there is a separate selector for an icon theme. Did you look through the available candidates in that icon theme selector?

Samuel

1/22/24, 10:46 AM

Yes I did. I also selected the Adwaita folders. They are brown though. Must be an old version or smth.

Archisman Panigrahi

1/22/24, 5:40 PM

`I would prefer a way where I also get updates, so downloading the theme once isnt really an option` -- Ubuntu does not update the version of icon-themes unless you upgrade the Ubuntu version, so this really does not matter

Samuel

1/23/24, 7:43 AM

Well I dont want to think about if I have a recent icon theme. Even through Ubuntu updates.

Score:0

Ubuntu

Elder Geek

1/26/24, 3:32 AM

I know this isn't the answer you were hoping for, but your choices are limited. According to the info available [here], Jakub Steiner pushed some updates to the main branch 5 days ago (at the time of this posting). I suggest that if the colors of the folders are important to you you might wish to update the theme via gitlab. A deeper dive into the READMEindicates that and I quote "The color of the icon set is defined at runtime by gtk. Every single icon from the set is actually embedded inside an xml container that has a stylesheet overriding the colors." You can either clone the code with git or just download it from here as as seen below. Alternatively, you can simply accept the conditions as they are or modify the code to suit yourself.

I hope this information is useful to you.

+ 2

Samuel

1/26/24, 6:55 AM

Thank you for your answer. But this is wasn't what I have been looking for. I knew this repo existed. But I didn't want the hustle to repeatedly pull from it to have te latest update. So I can't mark this answer as the solution :/

Elder Geek

1/30/24, 5:34 PM

@Samuel You may wish to review [this](https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask) Just because an answer isn't exactly what you were looking for doesn't mean it's wrong. If you have a better, more accurate solution, feel free to post your answer for the benefit of the community.

Score:0

Ubuntu

kanehekili

1/27/24, 11:39 PM

I'm using my own icon theme, which inherits from gnome. Look at pling for a theme that suites you. Note that there are also "icon subsets".

Elementary or Mint themes are rather close to the gnome theme (in fact they inherit from them) - so the next update of the gnome icons won't bother you very much.

The advantage of having your "own" icon theme is, that you can extend it any time or change only certain icons.

Someone implemented blue folder icons. You might change the entry Inherits=to "gnome,hicolor" in the file index.theme

To make this clear: You will have to download these icons and copy them into /usr/share/icons. With gnome tweaks, you will select your new icon theme. Since this theme was introduced from the outside, it will not be updated, since they are not known to your package manager.

Why does Ubuntu have not "blue folders"? The changes have been made upstream, and it'll take a while until they reach this distro. Since you have the gnome theme installed, you can switch any time after an update brought the new blue icons. Meanwhile, you use your downloaded theme without any interference.

+ 9

Samuel

1/28/24, 10:39 AM

This answer is an improvement over the previous one. However, there is still the issue of updates to the blue folders. If there are updates, I would need to redownload and locate a new repository that contains the updated versions. This is not a satisfactory solution. Additionally, I am confused as to why the brown icons still exist in Ubuntu when the rest of the Gnome interface has been updated to version 43.

kanehekili

1/28/24, 8:24 PM

No-these folders are your theme, and no one will ever update them. Creating your own theme are **overwriting** the folder icons, thus preventing a change. I'm doing this since several years (with green folders) - See my updated answer

Samuel

1/29/24, 8:17 AM

Im not worried about them getting overwritten. I want them to be overwritten! ...As soon as a new version of the folders might come out.

kanehekili

1/29/24, 4:02 PM

Why would the creator of some folder icons would want to update them? Icon folder names have been stable the last 10 years - which would be the only reason to update

Samuel

1/29/24, 9:41 PM

No, you dont get my point. I want the default Icons. And If the default icons get an update, even if the default folders change, I want that update. If I set a custom theme with custom folders, with the rest inheriting. The rest might get updated. But if the adwaita folders get an update for the folders, I will not get the update, because my local icons override them.

Elder Geek

1/30/24, 5:45 PM

@Samuel You are assuming that we don't get your point, when with all due respect, the reverse is actually true. I don't want to shovel the snow off my driveway, but I still have to do it to get the result I want. Just because you don't want to have to do something doesn't mean it isn't required. As an example, there are numerous packages that you are using now that have dependencies. Whether you WANT the dependencies or not is irrelevant. If you want to use the software, you MUST have them.

Samuel

1/31/24, 9:51 AM

@Elder Geek Hmm, I guess I have to accept that then. No newer icon theme ppa for me :( I guess the Blue folders + Inherits is the best option. But still leaves the question open: Why does have Ubuntu still have the brown icons, when the rest of gnome is up to date with gnome 40-43 in ubuntu??

Elder Geek

1/31/24, 11:30 PM

@Samuel I'm not certain I understand what you are referring to. Ubuntu is a distribution, Gnome is an extremely popular desktop environment that can be applied to virtually any Linux distribution.

Samuel

2/1/24, 12:30 PM

My question is the following: Ubuntu uses Gnome. Gnome as a DE as well as most gnome applications in Ubuntu are up to date with stock Gnome. But the adwaita icon theme in Ubuntu is ~2 years behind what stock gnome offers. Why is that?

Elon Musk

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EN: Vanilla Gnome adwaita theme still uses brown folders

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