I've downloaded a theme for Fedora Core 6, which is running Gnome, that I would like to install but I am having difficulty.

I obtained the theme from gtk.themes.org/

Could someone walk me through the process of installing a theme?

I know the command syntax on how to unzip and unpack a tarball, which is the format that these themes are available in.

System > Preferences > Themes. Select Customize and drag your package into the window.

I downloaded the theme tarball to my Desktop and unpacked it. The tarball is matrix_green-1.2.x.tar.gz.

I unzipped and untarred it to the desktop. gunzip < matrix_green-1.2.x.tar.gz | tar xvf -

I got a folder "Matrix_Green" with a subfolder "gtk" and a text file within the folder "gtkrc"


I then went to System - > Preferences -> Theme. I do not see a "Customize" button but I do see "Install Theme" and "Theme Details". I choose "Install Theme" and then go to the folder "Matrix_Green" on the Desktop and then click "Open". Clicking "Open" takes me to the subfolder "gtk". I click "open" again and then I see the "gtkrc" file. I click "open" on this file and I get the message:

"The file format is invalid."

I have tried dragging the main folder of the theme, as well the specific gtkrc file into the original window pane and I receive the same file format invalid message.

Do you know what file format I should be looking for? I am running a current version of Gnome since I am running Fedora Core 6, so I do not think it is a compatibility issue.

duhhhhh!

I do not have a gtk+ enviornment installed.

rpm -qa | grep gtk+

This command produces nothing. This is probably my problem.

You don't need to untar. Just drag the tarball into the custom part of the Themes window.

When I drag the compressed tarball over, I still get the same results...."File format invalid"

I looks like my themes are stored in /usr/share/themes and I tried unpacking the tar there and then adding the theme via the System -> Preferences -> Themes module, but I am still getting the same result : "File format not found"


However, when I drag the compressed tarball into the Themes window as you suggested before, before I get the ever agravating "File format invalid" message, it does look like it is unpacking the tarball for maybe a split second.

I am not sure what else to try. There doesn't seem to be too much on the web for this kind of thing.

Have you tried System > Theme > Details > Install and then point it to the location where the file is stored? That should work - although the other suggestion I made should have worked as well...

If nothing works, I suggest that you go back to the place where you got it from and check whether you actually got the right file. Or try a different one - I've noticed on a number of occasions that some of those theme files must have been improperly packaged, which as a rule results in botched installs; then all you can do is get something else (unless you feel confident enough to throw some hacks at the failing package).