Simplicity — Linux Desktop Theme

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A clean, modern desktop theme for Linux, available in dual-tone, light, dark, and Dracula variants with GTK 2/3/4, GNOME Shell, Cinnamon Shell, and window manager themes across all major distributions and desktop environments.

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Note

The previews are generated programmatically, which can cause some elements to appear different. Keep in mind that they are intended as a general concept of what the theme actually looks like on your distribution.

Documentation

Full documentation is available in the Wiki:

Page	Description
Home	Overview and quick-start
Theme Variants	All four variants with screenshots
Theme Elements	Per-component styling breakdown
Colour Palette	Complete colour reference for every variant
Installation	Full installation guide for every distro and DE
Desktop Environments	Per-DE configuration and manual application
Troubleshooting	Common problems and fixes

Features

• 🎨 GTK 2, 3 & 4 — Full theme support for modern and legacy GTK applications
• 🐚 GNOME Shell — Full shell theme: panel, Activities overview, Quick Settings, notifications, OSD, lock screen, and more
• 🍂 Cinnamon Shell — Full Cinnamon shell theme: panels, panel applets, popup menus, notifications, OSD overlays, and calendar
• 🪟 Window Managers — Metacity, XFWM4 (XFCE), and Openbox themes included
• 🐧 Multi-Distro — Dedicated installers for 6 major Linux distributions
• 🖥️ Multi-DE — Supports GNOME, KDE, XFCE, MATE, Cinnamon, Openbox, i3, Sway
• 🌗 Dual-Tone Theme — Dark chrome with light content area (Simplicity) — installed by default
• ☀️ Light Theme — Clean light variant (Simplicity-Light)
• 🌙 Dark Theme — Full dark variant (Simplicity-Dark)
• 🧛 Dracula Theme — Dracula colour palette variant (Simplicity-Dracula) — deep navy background with purple accent
• 🔧 Auto-Detection — Automatically detects your distro and desktop environment

Theme Variants

📖 See the Theme Variants wiki page for screenshots and detailed descriptions.

Variant	Name	Description
Dual-Tone (Default)	Simplicity	Dark chrome (header bar, sidebar, menus) with light content area
Light	Simplicity-Light	Full light palette — header, content, and chrome all light
Dark	Simplicity-Dark	Full dark palette — header, content, and chrome all dark
Dracula	Simplicity-Dracula	Dracula colour palette — deep navy background with purple accent

Colour Palette

📖 See the Colour Palette wiki page for the full colour reference across all variants.

Role	Colour
Background	#2d2d2d
Dark Background	#252525
Base (inputs)	#1e1e1e
Foreground	#e0e0e0
Accent / Selected	#5294e2
Error / Close btn	#cf6679
Warning / Min btn	#e5a050
Success / Max btn	#4caf50
Borders	#404040

Supported Desktop Environments

📖 See the Desktop Environments wiki page for per-DE configuration and manual application instructions.

Desktop	GTK 2	GTK 3	GTK 4	WM Theme	Shell Theme
GNOME	✅	✅	✅	Metacity	✅
XFCE	✅	✅	—	XFWM4	—
MATE	✅	✅	—	Metacity	—
Cinnamon	✅	✅	—	Metacity	✅
KDE Plasma	✅	✅	✅	—	—
Openbox	✅	✅	—	Openbox	—
LXDE / LXQt	✅	✅	—	Openbox	—
i3 / Sway	✅	✅	✅	—	—

Supported Linux Distributions

Distribution	Installer	Package Manager
Ubuntu · Linux Mint · Pop!_OS · Elementary · Zorin · KDE Neon · Kubuntu · Xubuntu · Lubuntu	distros/ubuntu/install.sh	apt
Debian · Raspbian · MX Linux · AntiX · Kali · Parrot · Devuan	distros/debian/install.sh	apt
Fedora · RHEL · CentOS · AlmaLinux · Rocky · Oracle · Nobara	distros/fedora/install.sh	dnf
Arch Linux · EndeavourOS · Garuda · ArcoLinux · Artix	distros/arch/install.sh	pacman / yay / paru
Manjaro Linux	distros/manjaro/install.sh	pamac / pacman
openSUSE Leap / Tumbleweed · SLES · SLED	distros/opensuse/install.sh	zypper

Quick Start

📖 For the full installation guide including manual installation, system-wide setup, and per-variant options, see the Installation wiki page.

Automatic Installation (Recommended)

git clone https://github.com/PhantomNimbi/Simplicity.git
cd Simplicity
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

The installer will:

1. Detect your Linux distribution and desktop environment
2. Install any required dependencies via your package manager
3. Copy theme files to ~/.themes/Simplicity/
4. Apply the theme to your current session

Manual Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/PhantomNimbi/Simplicity.git

2. Copy the theme to your themes directory:

   cp -r Simplicity/simplicity-dualtone ~/.themes/"Simplicity"

3. Apply the theme:

   GNOME:

   gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "Simplicity"
   gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme "Simplicity"
   gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'prefer-light'

   XFCE:

   xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Net/ThemeName -s "Simplicity"
   xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/theme -s "Simplicity"

   Other / Universal (GTK settings file):

   # ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini
   [Settings]
   gtk-theme-name=Simplicity
   gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=0

System-Wide Installation

To install for all users (requires root):

sudo ./install.sh --system

Installer Options

./install.sh [OPTIONS]
  --system      Install to /usr/share/themes (requires root)
  --no-apply    Install files only; do not apply to current session
  --light       Also install the Simplicity-Light variant
  --dark        Also install the Simplicity-Dark variant
  --dracula     Also install the Simplicity-Dracula variant
  --all         Install all variants (dark, light, and dracula)
  --help        Show help

To install all variants at once:

./install.sh --light --dark --dracula

To apply a specific variant after installation:

./scripts/apply-theme.sh --dark
./scripts/apply-theme.sh --light
./scripts/apply-theme.sh --dracula
./scripts/apply-theme.sh --dry-run   # preview changes without applying

Updating

To refresh the installed theme files from the repository (e.g. after a git pull):

./update.sh

The updater will:

1. Overwrite the installed theme files with the latest version from the repository
2. Re-apply the theme to the current desktop session

Updater Options

./update.sh [OPTIONS]
  --system      Update the system installation in /usr/share/themes (requires root)
  --no-apply    Update files only; do not re-apply to current session
  --dark        Also update the Simplicity-Dark variant
  --light       Also update the Simplicity-Light variant
  --dracula     Also update the Simplicity-Dracula variant
  --all         Update all variants (dark, light, and dracula)
  --help        Show help

Uninstallation

./uninstall.sh

Uninstaller Options

./uninstall.sh [OPTIONS]
  --system          Remove from /usr/share/themes (requires root)
  --keep-settings   Do not reset desktop environment settings
  --help            Show help

Or manually:

rm -rf ~/.themes/"Simplicity"
rm -rf ~/.themes/"Simplicity-Dark"
rm -rf ~/.themes/"Simplicity-Light"
rm -rf ~/.themes/"Simplicity-Dracula"
gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme
gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme

Repository Structure

Simplicity/
├── install.sh                  # Main installer (auto-detects distro)
├── update.sh                   # Updater (refreshes installed theme files)
├── uninstall.sh                # Uninstaller
├── README.md                   # This file
├── CHANGELOG.md                # Version history
├── CONTRIBUTING.md             # Contribution guidelines
├── TEMPLATE_USAGE.md           # Guide to using this repo as a template
├── LICENSE                     # BSD 3-Clause License
│
├── simplicity-dualtone/          # Default theme files (dark chrome, light content)
│   ├── index.theme             # Theme metadata
│   ├── cinnamon/
│   │   └── cinnamon.css        # Cinnamon shell theme (panel, menus, notifications)
│   ├── gnome-shell/
│   │   └── gnome-shell.css     # GNOME Shell theme (panel, overview, menus)
│   ├── gtk-2.0/
│   │   └── gtkrc               # GTK 2 theme
│   ├── gtk-3.0/
│   │   ├── gtk.css             # GTK 3 stylesheet
│   │   └── settings.ini        # GTK 3 settings
│   ├── gtk-4.0/
│   │   └── gtk.css             # GTK 4 stylesheet
│   ├── metacity-1/
│   │   └── metacity-theme-3.xml # GNOME/MATE window decorator
│   ├── xfwm4/
│   │   └── themerc             # XFCE window manager theme
│   └── openbox-3/
│       └── themerc             # Openbox window manager theme
│
├── simplicity-light/             # Light theme files (same layout as above)
│
├── simplicity-dark/              # Dark theme files (same layout as above)
│
├── simplicity-dracula/           # Dracula theme files (same layout as above)
│
├── screenshots/                # Preview images
│
├── wiki/                       # Extended documentation
│   ├── Home.md
│   ├── Theme-Variants.md
│   ├── Theme-Elements.md
│   ├── Colour-Palette.md
│   ├── Installation.md
│   ├── Desktop-Environments.md
│   └── Troubleshooting.md
│
├── distros/                    # Distribution-specific installers
│   ├── ubuntu/                 # Ubuntu, Mint, Pop!_OS, Elementary, Zorin, and more
│   ├── fedora/                 # Fedora, RHEL, CentOS, AlmaLinux, Rocky, and more
│   ├── arch/                   # Arch, EndeavourOS, Garuda, ArcoLinux, Artix
│   ├── debian/                 # Debian, Raspbian, MX, Kali, Parrot, Devuan
│   ├── opensuse/               # openSUSE Leap & Tumbleweed, SLES, SLED
│   └── manjaro/                # Manjaro Linux
│
└── scripts/
    ├── detect-distro.sh        # Distro detection helper
    └── apply-theme.sh          # DE-aware theme applicator

Using This Repository as a Template

Want to build your own Linux theme using this project as a starting point? See TEMPLATE_USAGE.md for a full step-by-step guide covering:

• Creating a repository from this template on GitHub
• Renaming the theme throughout the codebase
• Customising the colour palette
• Updating theme metadata
• Adding or removing distribution support
• Testing your theme before publishing

Troubleshooting

For solutions to common issues, see the Troubleshooting wiki page.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for full guidelines on reporting bugs, suggesting features, and submitting pull requests.

To add support for a new distribution:

1. Create a new directory under distros/<distro-name>/
2. Add an install.sh script following the existing pattern
3. Add a README.md with distribution-specific notes
4. Update this README with the new distro entry

Share

If you enjoy Simplicity, help spread the word!

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for the full version history and release notes.

License

This project is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License.