Apps/Applets: Icon Naming & Location

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JBHoren

Apps/Applets: Icon Naming & Location

Post by JBHoren »

I don't know if this also applies to Cinnamon and Xfce -- not my concern; I'm only interested in the Mate desktop environment.

Icons are located all over the place: Many are in /usr/lib/<app>/icons, more in /usr/share/<theme>, and there's always ~/.icons for "my" artwork; I'm sure there are other locations I've forgotten or don't know about. Regardless, some "default" app/applet icons are easily user-configurable (Avant Window Navigator lets me do that, for example), and if all else fails, I can sometimes (often, but not close to always) replace an icon in the /usr hierarchy with a different one).

However, I've run into an increasingly evident and frustrating problem: The icons for applets that appear in the Mate panel are different between LM 18 and LM 19, despite the same icon sets being used.

My solution would be to copy an icon set which pleases me, make changes/additions when/if desired, store them in ~/.icons/<my_icon_set>, and Bob's yer uncle. Again, there's a "but": Where are the panel icons located? App/applet icons should (IIUC) be in /usr/share/icons/<theme>/panel or ~/.icons/<theme>/panel, but in which size -- 22? 24? 48? scalable?

Another question: Have app/applets (and/or their icons) undergone name changes?

Another question: If the icon set doesn't include one that matches a particular panel applet, from where does the Mate panel "choose" an icon to display? (the same is true for AWN applets)

Given the GNUnix history of an application's configurable settings going from built-in → global/site config → user config, with each successive config file over-riding the previous one, I've expected that this behavior would also hold true for icons -- and I've been disappointed.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Knowledge? Docs?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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invernosantigos
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Re: Apps/Applets: Icon Naming & Location

Post by invernosantigos »

Well, the uncle there must have waited a long time for an answer, and I don't know if he got it... But for the question not to go unanswered, in Mint Cinnamon, the panel icons are in /usr/share/icons/Mint-X /status ; with "Mint-x" being the theme and you can change it to any other theme folder. The dashboard icons are in the status, 16, 22, 24, 32, 48, 96, and scalable subfolders. I discovered by accident: losing and reinstalling the panel sometimes causes some icons in subfolders to disappear, and then they are replaced by the closest icon sizes -- which causes some icons to be distorted in size. The way, then, is to reinstall the whole theme in Synaptic.

On the other hand, his idea is a good one, and at least for my part, I support the pattern he suggested implementing. But I make an additional suggestion. In order not to bloat the system with folders of icons -- there are already too many and only 1% or less are in use -- I propose that the icons in use are all in a hidden folder in the HOME directory, probably called .icon, or in a subfolder from .config. Mbut I believe that the ideal would be to be able to change any icon through the "Icon Browser" tool ( Browser Chooser ), the one that is already used to change the icons of Nemo's folders. Note: she needs a search box... urgently...
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