vinceliuice/MacTahoe-gtk-theme

What it does

MacTahoe turns GTK-based Linux desktops into a macOS Tahoe-like look. It is derived from the WhiteSur GTK theme and ships as SCSS sources plus two shell entry points: install.sh for the GTK theme pack and tweaks.sh for optional extras such as GNOME Shell, GDM, Firefox and Flatpak integration. It targets Linux users running GTK desktops who want the macOS visual style and are comfortable using a terminal installer.

Quick start

Prerequisites are listed per distribution: sassc is required, along with libglib2.0-dev-bin on Ubuntu 20.04, libglib2.0-dev and libxml2-utils on older Ubuntu/Debian/Mint, or glib2-devel on Fedora/Red Hat. The README states the installer provides these dependencies itself, but installing sassc manually is the safest preparation.

git clone https://github.com/vinceliuice/MacTahoe-gtk-theme.git --depth=1
cd MacTahoe-gtk-theme
./install.sh

This installs the default MacTahoe theme pack, by default into ~/.themes. Then select the theme in your desktop's appearance settings. On GNOME, the recommended extensions are User Themes (for the shell theme), Dash to Dock and Blur My Shell (recommended extensions).

Common variants:

./install.sh -t red          # single red accent
./install.sh -t all          # all accents
./install.sh -l              # libadwaita (GTK4) dark theme
./install.sh -l -c light     # libadwaita light theme
./install.sh -b -l           # blur variant for libadwaita

Removal is handled by ./install.sh -r; GDM, Firefox and Flatpak tweaks have their own revert flags in tweaks.sh (uninstall commands).

Optional tweaks

tweaks.sh extends the theme beyond ordinary GTK apps:

• GNOME Shell panel icon, transparency, height and font settings via --shell.
• GDM login theme, requiring root: sudo ./tweaks.sh -g; background, darkening and blur can be adjusted (GDM options).
• Firefox theme via ./tweaks.sh -f; the adaptive variant needs the adaptive-tab-bar-colour add-on (Firefox theme).
• Flatpak apps: run the flatpak override command for xdg-config/gtk-3.0 and gtk-4.0, then ./tweaks.sh -F (Flatpak fix).

Run ./install.sh -h or ./tweaks.sh -h for the full option list.

Constraints

• Target is Linux GTK desktops; the exact desktop environment is not enumerated, and GNOME-specific features assume GNOME Shell with the listed extensions.
• libadwaita/GTK4 apps do not support user-selectable themes. The -l option overwrites $HOME/.config/gtk-4.0, which forces one fixed theme for all GTK4 apps and prevents switching, including dark/light mode (libadwaita note).
• Blur requires the Blur My Shell extension, and the README lists known conflicts with Rounded Window Corners (reborn), Desaturate Windows and AppIndicator, plus a known issue when HDR is enabled (blur troubleshooting).
• GDM changes require root. Flatpak theme connection is not supported for Snap packages.
• The project is MIT-licensed.

HotRepo's take

MacTahoe is a direct successor-style theme from the WhiteSur maintainer, and the ~1.7k stars and 109 forks suggest interest from the Linux theming crowd. The repository has no recorded GitHub daily ranking, star-growth snapshots or Hacker News discussion, so there is no trend data to interpret. What stands out technically is the breadth of the tweak script: GDM, Firefox, Flatpak and GNOME Shell are covered alongside the base GTK theme, which makes it more of a desktop-wide reskin than a single theme folder. The main trade-off is the libadwaita workaround, which trades theme switching for coverage of modern GNOME apps.