Hi, I’m new to this forum. I hope I can post this here, if not let me know.
I use Fedora 35 spin (KDE) and default look is not really that good. I want to customize it a little bit so that It looks better.
One such way to customize it, is to install themes (get themes (settings)). I think almost anyone can publish a theme there.
So, before installing it, I would like to know the permission it gets when I install, is it verified by KDE.
Generally is it safe/secure to install a theme (from KDE).
Again, let me know if I can post these questions. I have done research but Im still not yet convinced.
It has been a while but I believe they are installed into your home directory and would have their ownership tied to the user that installed them.
I don’t believe that they are.
If you have doubts, review the files yourself and install them manually. Ultimately, when installing anything from any source you only have two options. You can trust the person who publishes it or you can verify it yourself.
@dalto, Thanks for the response! I’ve one more question.
How about installing/downloading the theme that has the most users ? (and obvioulsy I must like the theme )
Will it be kind of better than the one that has very less users ?
Well, I suppose the argument could made that if there are more people using it, there is a greater likelihood that one of them would notice malicious behavior.
Is GNOME extension more secure than the KDEs.
As far as I know anyone can upload a theme in KDE, but in GNOME it is verified by them (that’s what is mentioned).
So, as it is verified, it will more secure/safer than the KDE theme right ?
That’s what I’m comparing.
Yes, themes and extensions are different but like GNOME extensions are reviewed but the KDE themes are not. Other things like icons etc are not a big thing.
So, as the extensions are reviewed it must be pretty safe right ? The question might be silly but I want to know as the extensions will be a part of the OS itself.
What’s your opinion ?
You can also check out the Fedora repos as there are a lot of themes and icons there as well.In general themes and icons in KDE and Gnome are safe to use.
I don’t think themes need much permission. It’s similar to changing CSS in a website. All it does is downloads a compressed file with all theme information and styling and extract the contents to the themes folder.
/usr/share/plasma/desktoptheme/
or ~/. local/share/plasma/desktoptheme/
for user installed themes.
So for safety, it’s safe since there is no script or anything that is being run when installing a theme through theme store. The only issue is themes may or may not play nice with your applications. Sometimes they may try to render white fronts on white background and other issues but it’s nothing serious.
If you’re planning to install from GitHub repositories, may want to check the contents if it has some install.sh scripts.
For GNOME Shell Extensions, It’s hard to say. Extensions can break, crash, and are generally unpredictable depending on what extensions it is. It is often tested by it’s maintainer but nothing can be said. Better to check the code yourself for security, try it if it supports the GNOME version you have for stability. If something breaks the GUI, use gnome-extensions in terminal to manage it.
Most people go to McDonald’s instead of a ‘healthy’ restaurant. So McDonald’s is the way to eat??
Anyway, if you can install it via dnf it’s pretty safe.
