When you download or save as a theme file to the desktop and you want to apply it and it is a .tar file, what do you do?

In GNOME, just open the theme manager and drag your theme into it. In KDE it's a bit more complicated I think.

it would help to know what desktop environment you are running and what version

If you are in gnome you can do what was posted above, or you can also go to a terminal and type: gnome-theme-manager and go through the install buttons and do it that way. You can also drop your theme into ~/.themes and then use switch2 (for gtk2 themes) or switch(for gtk themes) and then select your theme that way. switch2 is a very nice app to have around for changing themes. You can also edit your ~/.gtkrc-2.0 file to read something like the following:

# -- THEME AUTO-WRITTEN DO NOT EDIT
include "/home/hawkwind/.themes/H2O-gtk2-Ruby/gtk-2.0/gtkrc"

include "/home/hawkwind/.gtkrc.mine"

# -- THEME AUTO-WRITTEN DO NOT EDIT


You can also use switch/switch2 and/or this file to set your fonts as well. I don't have an example of that or I would surely post it for you.


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Hawkwind