Gangmax Blog

Make Ubuntu 18.04 Look More Like Mac

The original solution was verified on Ubuntu 17.10. However it’s also verified on Ubuntu 18.04 after the 18.04 version is released.

Hope the following things work on the next LTS version “18.04”(Confirmed on 2018-05-14: all the instructions work on Ubuntu 18.04).

Preparation

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# 1. Install packges. From:
#    https://askubuntu.com/questions/545741/why-is-shell-theme-disabled-in-gnome-tweak-tool
#    http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/10/install-vanilla-gnome-shell-ubuntu-17-10
# "gnome-tweak-tool" is the tweak tool, "gnome-shell-extensions"
# is the required component to set configuration in the tweak
# tool, "gnome-session" makes it possible to login pure GNOME. 
# Note that after Installing "gnome-shell-extensions", restart
# OS may be needed to do further configuration in "GNOME Tweak
# Tool".
sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool gnome-shell-extensions gnome-session
# 2. Enable the following option to make GNOME look for shell
# themes from user directory:
# GNOME Tweak Tool -> Extensions -> User themes

Theme

The finally used theme components(GNOME Tweak Tool -> Appearance -> Themes) are:

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1. Applications: Gnome OSX-IV-1.1
2. Cursor: Capitaine Cursors
3. Icons: La-capitaine-icon-theme
4. Shell: Maxim

The following content describes how to install them.

Application(GTK theme): “Gnome OSX-IV-1.1”

The “Gnome OSX-IV-1.1” GTK theme can be found from here. Download the “tar“ file and extract it to the “~/.themes” directory as “Gnome OSX-IV-1.1”, then select the “Gnome OSX-IV-1.1” item in “GNOME-Tweak-Tool -> Appearance -> Themes -> Application”.

Cursor: “Capitaine Cursors”

From here.

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# Run the following commands to install the "Capitaine Cursors".
git clone https://github.com/keeferrourke/capitaine-cursors.git
cd capitaine-cursors
cp -pr dist/ ~/.icons/capitaine-cursors
# After run the above commands, select "apitaine-cursors" in
# "GNOME Tweak Tool -> Appearance -> Cursors".

Icons: La-capitaine-icon-theme

The “La-capitaine-icon-theme” cursor theme can be found from here. Run the following commands to get the latest icons, which will checkout the latest icons under the “~/.icons” directory as directory “La-capitaine-icon-theme”, then you can select the “La-capitaine-icon-theme” item in “GNOME-Tweak-Tool -> Appearance -> Themes -> Icons”.

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cd ~/.icons
git clone https://github.com/keeferrourke/la-capitaine-icon-theme.git

Shell: Maxim

Download the “Maxim“ shell theme package from here. Then install the downloaded package file in “GNOME-Tweak-Tool -> Appearance -> Themes -> Shell”. After installation succeeds, select the “Maxim” item in “GNOME-Tweak-Tool -> Appearance -> Themes -> Shell”.

Dock

I use “simple-dock“ instead of “Docky“ since I found “Docky” crashed several times on my Ubuntu 17.10 environment, so I use “simple-dock” as alternative which works well. From here and here.

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# Install:
git clone https://github.com/optimisme/gnome-shell-simple-dock.git
cd gnome-shell-simple-dock
chmod 744 install.sh
./install.sh
# Uninstall:
rm -rf ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/simple-dock@nothing.org

GNOME Fonts

Change the GNOME used fonts in “GNOME Tweak Tool -> Fonts” as following:

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# 1. Window Title: Cantarell Bold -> Ubuntu Bold
# 2. Interface: Cantarell Regular -> Ubuntu Regular
# 3. Antialiasing: Standard(grayscale) -> Subpixel(for LCD screens)
# 4. Hinting: Slight

Other configurations

Beside the above installed components, I also update the following options in “GNOME Tweak Tool”:

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# 1. GNOME Tweak Tool -> Extensions -> User themes:
#     Enable this option to make GNOME look shell themes from user directory
# 2. GNOME Tweak Tool -> Extensions -> Windowsnavigator:
#     Enable this option to select window(Alt + number) and/or workspace(Ctrl + number)
# 3. GNOME Tweak Tool -> Extensions -> Simple dock:
#     Enable/Disable "simple-dock", and do the configuration

More

Here is the installation instructions of some unused GNOME theme components I tried.

Shell theme: “Flat Remix”

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# From:
# https://www.gnome-look.org/p/1013030/
# https://github.com/daniruiz/Flat-Remix-GNOME-theme
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/themes
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install flat-remix-gs-theme

Icons: “papirus”

Download La Capitaine Icon Set on Github. In my case, I download ”la-capitaine-icon-theme-0.4.0.tar.gz”. Extract the tar file and copy the extracted directory into your “/.icons” directory. If “/.icons” doesn’t exist, create it first. From here.

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# After run the following commands, select "Papirus" in
# "GNOME Tweak Tool -> Appearance -> Icons"
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:papirus/papirus
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install papirus-icon-theme

GTK theme(Application): “OS.X.El.Capitan”

I download ”OS.X.El.Capitan.v0.9.tar.gz”. Extract the tar file and copy the extracted directory into your “/.themes” directory. If “/.themes” doesn’t exist, create it first. From here.

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