Global theme settings

Faintful · 2014-06-02 15:37:34

Hey there! I am a Arch Linux noobie and an overall Linux noobie too, anyway, I am loving Arch!
I have xfce installed with LightDM under my root account. I created a new sudo user as that user is going to be the user I want to use. After creating the new user I had to apply the things I styled again.
Is there a way to have global theme, font and panel settings, etc?

drcouzelis · 2014-06-02 15:41:12

What is a "sudo user"? What user were you logging in as before? EDIT: I think I understand. You were using "root" before, and now you've created a new user and set it up to use the "sudo" command, right? Good idea.

Settings are (usually) local to the user. You can copy configuration files to the new user's home directory.

Is there a special reason you want the settings to be global?

Also, see how to set styles for more detailed information.

Last edited by drcouzelis (2014-06-02 15:42:13)

Faintful · 2014-06-02 15:46:15

Ah, sorry. I guess I was a bit vague indeed.. excuse me. I simply created a new user to the sudo group. I was logging in before as root.
The reason I want to do this, is just to make sure that in the event that I want to create a new user, I won't have to redo everything again.

The article linked describes a Qt style, but isn't that a static style itself? I simply downloaded a theme from xfce-looks, changed some window settings, terminal fonts, etc.
So there is not an easy way to save these e.g global user config file?

drcouzelis · 2014-06-02 16:44:25

In my opinion, no, there isn't an easy way to save settings to a global user configuration file.

It's possible (everything's possible in Linux), but I think your time would be better spent learning where the different configuration settings are saved. Then, if you want to create a new user with the same settings, simply copy the configuration files that you need from the old user to the new user and they'll be setup the same.

If all you want is for every user to have access to a theme that you downloaded from xfce-looks, then the best thing to do is to create an Arch Linux package by making a PKGBUILD file (it's pretty easy to do). But there's a good chance there's already a package for the theme you want in the AUR. What theme is it?

Last edited by drcouzelis (2014-06-02 16:45:39)

Faintful · 2014-06-02 20:13:25

Thanks for your reply! Very interesting! It's the greybird package. I have downloaded it manually because the AUR package was flagged outdated. A PKGBUILD file is interesting though. Where are for example the Window manager and Terminal font settings saved? If I may ask.

drcouzelis · 2014-06-03 01:53:46

You can always use the existing PKGBUILD file to (rather easily) make a current package for the theme you want. Remember, if you can "install" something on the command line then you can throw it into an Arch Linux package.

What window manager are you using? What terminal application are you using?

Trilby · 2014-06-03 02:33:45

You could use a bind mount for ~/.config for every user. The likely issue with this would be permissions and ownership of the files - though there might be a mount flag/umask that could take care of this. Or as a similar approach you could mount/bindmount a fat filesystem as config (fat does not preserve ownership or permissions). These are 'coulds' - I don't think either of them are good ideas.

Drcouzelis's suggestion of packaging your configs is much better, and will help you get practice with other useful skills.

Yet another good approach would be to set up a vcs repo (e.g., git) for your configs. Many archers currently do this. That way when you create a new user, or even install a new system, you simply need to clone your configs repo. There are even tools in the AUR to help strealine this further (though those always struck me as odd as it is already a trivially easy task).

Faintful · 2014-06-03 12:38:54

Thanks guys for helping me out. I figure I will learn to create a PKGBUILD file and work it out that way.
I am currently using XFCE's defaults (xfwm4 and terminal).

drcouzelis · 2014-06-03 13:48:54

You're welcome. For your information, the Arch Linux wiki has information on where XFCE saves its configuration files: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/XF … f_settings

Last edited by drcouzelis (2014-06-03 13:49:15)

Arch Linux

#1 2014-06-02 15:37:34

Global theme settings

#2 2014-06-02 15:41:12

Re: Global theme settings

#3 2014-06-02 15:46:15

Re: Global theme settings

#4 2014-06-02 16:44:25

Re: Global theme settings

#5 2014-06-02 20:13:25

Re: Global theme settings

#6 2014-06-03 01:53:46

Re: Global theme settings

#7 2014-06-03 02:33:45

Re: Global theme settings

#8 2014-06-03 12:38:54

Re: Global theme settings

#9 2014-06-03 13:48:54

Re: Global theme settings

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