Linux desktop icons are dull, so I drew a better set and made it free
Look at your Linux desktop for a second. The Home folder icon. The file manager in your dock. The row of folders in your Documents. They're fine. They're also dull. Flat, muddy, a bit sad, clearly not something anyone enjoyed making. And once you notice it you can't stop noticing it, because these are the icons you look at more than any others, all day. I went looking for a replacement on…
Open your Linux desktop for a moment. The icons on your home screen, your file manager, and the folders in your documents appear plain and uninteresting. These icons dominate your screen throughout the day, yet they often leave a lasting impression of dullness. I searched for alternatives on gnome-look.org, but many were limited or failed to deliver a cohesive look.
So, I decided to create my own set and make it freely available. Introducing Frost, a frosted-glass icon theme designed for Linux. Distributed under the MIT license, installation and removal are just one line of code.
Frost's icons share a common concept: a vivid color through a soft pane of frosted glass, with a crisp white symbol on top. Each project folder displays the contents within. For instance, a project with Next.js, TypeScript, and Bun.lock files is marked with Next, Bun, and TS. Similarly, a project containing go.mod, Dockerfile, and a Dockerfile is labeled as Go and Docker. Frost pulls these file type marks from Simple Icons (public domain), ensuring no trademarked logos are included.
The theme assigns colors to different file types: yellow for data and keys, teal for code, blue for documents, and orange for archives. The symbol indicates the file type family: braces for JSON, M with a down arrow for Markdown, a padlock for lock files, a rosette for certificates, and stacked crates for Dockerfiles. Labels spell out the exact type for icons larger than 48 px.
Note that Linux's file types can be inconsistent; for instance, .ts is actually a Qt translation file, not TypeScript. To address this, Frost provides an optional fix for your user account. Once installed, the icons remain visually appealing even when scaled down to 16 px.
To install Frost, run: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thissayantan/frost-icon-theme/main/install.sh | sh. For file-type fixes, use: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thissayantan/frost-icon-theme/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --mime. If you decide Frost isn't for you, simply run: sh install.sh --uninstall. It integrates seamlessly with your existing desktop, leaving brand icons untouched.
Firefox, Chrome, and VS Code maintain their original themes, while other icons fall back to Papirus if not drawn by Frost.
Frost is available on GitHub, gnome-look.org, and directly via a tar.xz file. It is released under the MIT license, allowing you to use, modify, and redistribute the artwork. By using Frost, you're encouraged to contribute by requesting missing icons or improving the theme. The author simply requests recognition in the form of a star on the repository.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
