How to set MacOS Theme and Icon on Ubuntu-16.04

To set macOS Theme and Icon on Ubuntu-16.04

The macOS interface can be replicated on Ubuntu, the terminal, the icons and a whole lot more. Linux users can also use the macOS theme in their Ubuntu machines and if you are one among them, then this tutorial will help you set macOS theme on your Ubuntu system. Here is a little rundown on the whole process.

• Getting the GNOME shell.
• Getting a macOS theme for GNOME Shell.
• Getting a macOS desktop dock.
• Getting a macOS icon set.
• Choosing a macOS data-style system font.

Setting macOS Theme

First, make sure you update your system by making use of the following command.

root@localhost:~# apt-get update
Hit:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease [102 kB]
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Fetched 4,216 kB in 7s (539 kB/s)                                                                                                         
Reading package lists... Done

Getting the GNOME shell

One of the great advantages of using Ubuntu is the widespread availability of desktop environments for everyone to choose from like Unity, Cinnamon etc. The desktop environments change the entire look of the software interface, gives it uniqueness and data-style.
The GNOME shell is one of the most popular desktop environments available out there. You can carry out basic functions such as launching applications, switching between windows and using a widget engine. All in all, the GNOME shell is pretty simple but very functional.

If you want to install the Gnome shell, make use of the following command.
During installation, a prompt may come up asking you to choose the display manager, simply choose the ‘ lightdm‘ option.

root@localhost:~# apt-get install gnome-shell
Reading package lists... Done
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Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu3) ...
Processing triggers for dbus (1.10.6-1ubuntu3) ...

The installation is complete now however, making customizations to the shell at this point could still be a pain in the neck. For this reason, there is a tweak tool that allows for easy customization of the GNOME desktop environment, named the GNOME Tweak Tool.

You can install the Gnome tweak tool by making use of the following command.

root@localhost:~# apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool
Reading package lists... Done
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Processing triggers for mime-support (3.59ubuntu1) ...
Setting up gnome-tweak-tool (3.18.1-1) ...

Getting a macOS desktop dock
Desktop docks always bring a different sort of flavor to any desktop environment. A dock such as the default Ubuntu desktop dock has gained lots of popularity as much as the Mac OS desktop dock. To replicate this, we would be using the Plank desktop dock. This is because it is lightweight and comes close to giving the needed Mac OS dock look.

You need to update your system first. Make use of the following command for that purpose.

root@localhost:~# apt-get update
Hit:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease [102 kB]
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Fetched 4,216 kB in 7s (539 kB/s)                                                                                                         
Reading package lists... Done

And then, you need to Plank package.

root@localhost:~# apt-get install plank
Reading package lists... Done
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Setting up plank (0.11.1-1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu3) ...

After which you need to add the repository.

root@localhost:~# add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/macbuntu
 This PPA is dedicated to Macbuntu transformation pack for Ubuntu.
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gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)
OK

Now, once again you need to update the system.

root@localhost:~# apt-get update
Hit:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease [102 kB]
.
.
Fetched 4,216 kB in 7s (539 kB/s)                                                                                                         
Reading package lists... Done

And then, you need to install Macbook Ubuntu OS Plank Theme by making use of the following command.

root@localhost:~# apt-get install macbuntu-os-plank-theme-lts-v7
Reading package lists... Done
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Setting up macbuntu-os-plank-theme-lts-v7 (3.18.2~xenial~Noobslab.com) ...
keep visit on www.NoobsLab.com

Getting a macOS icon set
One of the unique things about the macOS is its icon set. It’ s very simple but has a classic design and is one of the best icon sets you would ever find. Luckily for us, we can easily install this using the La Captaine pack.

Choosing a macOS data-style system font
Font data-styles are of great importance in designs. They could be the subtle difference between very beautiful and not quite for any interface. As with all Apple products, fonts are taken very seriously and this has ensured that the already beautiful design becomes much classier. You can easily get the Apple font data-styles by running the following command on the terminal.

For setting a macOS data-style system font, you should first install the macOS font package and for that, you can make use of the following command.

root@localhost:~# wget -O mac-fonts.zip http://drive.noobslab.com/data/Mac/macfonts.zip
--2018-02-02 04:02:30--  http://drive.noobslab.com/data/Mac/macfonts.zip
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========> ]   1.30M  --.-KB/s    in 0.03s   
2018-02-02 04:02:34 (49.7 MB/s) - ‘ mac-fonts.zip’  saved [1361150/1361150]

Now, once it is done, you need to unzip the package of Fonts.

root@localhost:~# unzip mac-fonts.zip -d /usr/share/fonts  rm mac-fonts.zip
Archive:  mac-fonts.zip
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  inflating: /usr/share/fonts/MACGRAND.PFB  
  inflating: /usr/share/fonts/MACGRAND.PFM 

And then, configure it for a proper effect.

root@localhost:~# fc-cache -f -v
/usr/share/fonts: caching, new cache contents: 15 fonts, 5 dirs
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/root/.fontconfig: not cleaning non-existent cache directory
fc-cache: succeeded

Once it is all done, go to the GNOME tweak tool and select The Garuda Regular which is the standard font data-style of the macOS.

You can now access Plank on Ubuntu Dashboard.

And experience the effect of macOS Desktop dock.

With this, the tutorial on how to set macOS theme and icon on Ubuntu 16.04 comes to an end.