Why can't Ubuntu find the GIMP graphics editor theme files?

The path to the theme files is specified in the GIMP graphics editor dialog box. I am attaching a screenshot. I wanted to tweak the theme a bit.

I enter the following command into the terminal: cd /usr/share/gimp/

And I get an error: No such file or directory

Why is that?

Solution 1:

I believe this is because you are using a snap or flatpak packaging of Gimp. Both types contain all their files in a virtual file system, so what they see as /usr/share is not the /usr/share of the file system.

If you use Gimp's file browser you will be able to navigate to and open /usr/share/gimp/2.0/images/gimp-splash.png because it is in the Snap/Flaptpak package.

This sandboxing is one of the reasons I stay away from these packages as much as possible.

if you want to tweak a theme, copy it from the source tree and add it to the ~/.config/GIMP/2.10/themes (which should exist in your user space). You can then tweak it to your heart's content.