[PLASMA 5] Install Icon set not working

[kaktux]

Hi there,

i just made a new installation on my pc using kubuntu 18.04.
Now i am tinkering around a bit and want to try a different icon set (mainly Ubo Icons Theme https://store.kde.org/p/1012539/).
But with every set i try it over the system settings it doesn't work. I think mainly because when you look at store.kde most files are old and archived.

When downloading by hand and choosing the downloaded file through system settings with every set i try the error message "The file is not a valid symbol design archive" appears.

But searching how a design archive has to look - i found no clues.

so my question is - do you know how i can add and use an icon set like the one i linked?

[simonsaysthis]

the theme folder must be extracted and sitting under /user/share/icons/ Only then can you select it via system settings. I usually extract it in downloads and then go to terminal and copy the relevant folder as sudoer into /usr/share/icons. Make sure you are copying the actual theme folder. Some of them have a master folder in which the actual folder sits.

[simonsaysthis]

..sometimes it's also worth it looking at the git repository for the theme to see when it was last updated and with what DE it's compatible. As you mentioned, the KDE store is far from ideal and still needs a serious clean up or new approach. Unfortunately the KDE developers can't sort out QA issues from independent designers and developers.

[Cage72]

What I have done in the past for icons sets that didn't work was create a folder called .themes and place the icon set into them. They will show up in your theme settings.

[oshunluvr]

The problem is the icon theme is from 2011.

The packager of the icons didn't do it in away that the Plasma 5 installer recognizes and he/she didn't install the file to the KDE "store" properly either. However, I was able to find the on a Russian website and download it.

If you wanted to try and manually install the theme, it might work but the theme file is from 2011. That's like 100 years ago in Linux time. That makes it a KDE4 theme. Not that the icons won't work - I'm rather confident they will, but you might be doing some manual changes to get them to work.

[kenj70]

Pardon me for hopping onto this topic but... Reading the OP I started looking at KDE icon sets. I was initially very impressed with the large variety of icon sets but - - - - most of them are ancient! How in the world are we supposed to use this old, old stuff if it hasn't been updated for KDE 5?

-=Ken=-

[oshunluvr]

The icon files themselves haven't changed so you can use them, but the installation and theme files might need amendment. If you had one you really had to have, try contacting the creator and ask them to update it. I have a couple things up there that I update from time-to-time when it's requested. Alternately, roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. Then you have the bonus of learning something new and you can upload it and help others in the same boat.

Frankly, icons (and themes, boot splash, etc.) are only eye-candy and thus not a high priority target for the Plasma developers. You get 1 or 2 working icons sets and other pretty things from the get-go and from there it's up to the users.

This is normal for the Linux world. These people aren't getting paid for the work they're doing so IMO you have to keep your expectations reasonable.

[kenj70]

The icon files themselves haven't changed so you can use them, but the installation and theme files might need amendment. If you had one you really had to have, try contacting the creator and ask them to update it. I have a couple things up there that I update from time-to-time when it's requested. Alternately, roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. Then you have the bonus of learning something new and you can upload it and help others in the same boat.

Frankly, icons (and themes, boot splash, etc.) are only eye-candy and thus not a high priority target for the Plasma developers. You get 1 or 2 working icons sets and other pretty things from the get-go and from there it's up to the users.

This is normal for the Linux world. These people aren't getting paid for the work they're doing so IMO you have to keep your expectations reasonable.

OK, makes sense. Thanks for clewing me in. I had to ask because a couple weeks ago I tried changing to an alternate icon set and half the icons were missing. The only way I could recover was to hover my cursor over where I expected the correct icon to be and wait for it to be identified as the correct one I needed. KDE is SO configurable but my recent experiments have gotten me in trouble. The multitude of interface options are so tempting but seems to be false advertising - if it cripples your computer.

-=Ken=-