Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

greenjeans · 2026-04-20 02:15:16

Placeholder. Working on this now, simple replacement for Nitrogen in gtk3 and C.
Smaller and faster, using xwallpaper for the backend.

swanson · 2026-04-20 05:33:49

Subscribing.....

greenjeans · 2026-04-22 23:46:28

Very rough still, got a lot of work to do yet on the UI and some function behavior, but it's working.

Subscribing.....

I thought this might be something you'd like Can I get you to test the beta when it's ready?

Last edited by greenjeans (2026-04-23 01:09:39)

swanson · 2026-04-23 03:58:57

I'll compile and test it immediately!!!

greenjeans · 2026-04-23 12:41:18

Sweet, thanks! Yeah I love Nitrogen, been using it for like a decade but with Debian threatening to remove gtk2 i'm just trying to get out ahead of that. The only thing this first beta won't have is the ability to use multiple monitors independently, for now it will just use the same chosen wallpaper for all monitors, once I get it dialed in properly i'll add multi-monitor specific options as xwallpaper has that capability and works well with it.

greenjeans · 2026-04-26 17:16:48

Almost there, I decided to go ahead and implement multi-monitor choices, so now you can set all monitors to the same paper, or set them individually or make one big panoramic span across all. Just a little work left today on storing the new multi-monitors properly so the restore function works 100% on multi-setups. I say a "little" work but you never know...;)

swanson · 2026-05-02 04:36:36

How's it going? I haven't found the source on your sourceforge yet.

Last edited by swanson (2026-05-02 04:36:53)

greenjeans · 2026-05-02 12:51:56

Sorry! I got sidetracked first with a tooth infection that knocked me out for a few days, then swamped with other things, today though I got 2 priorities, finishing this up and investigating Void to see about getting AlsaTune to work in it. Can't promise anything though 'cause I gotta mow the lawn too and help the wife down at the library as well, busy day for me!

swanson · 2026-05-02 16:41:38

Yeah, busy times this time of year!

greenjeans · 2026-05-03 19:59:19

Done! First version uploaded to Sourceforge:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/vuu-do … /VuuPaper/

Up on gitea now: https://git.devuan.org/greenjeans/vuupaper

This is the first version, still might have some small bugs and surely could use some polishing, but it seems pretty stable
and very useful even in multi-monitor setups. Some nice features and workflow too, check it out when you have time! To compile yourself:

gcc -o vuupaper22 vuupaper22.c `pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0` -Wall -O2

From the readme:

VuuPaper, a simple wallpaper manager/setter for X.

This app was inspired by Nitrogen and is similar in look and feel, this app is built with C and gtk3
and uses the excellent xwallpaper for the backend. Very small and fast, less than 40 kb for the binary.

On first run a dialog is opened that offers quick instructions about the --restore function, and
a Choose Directory button that opens the file-chooser for you to select your default wallpaper
folder, and then opens the app with thumbnails of your images ready to apply. You can add additional
wallpaper folders by using the Add Folder button, to the right of that is a drop-down menu from
which you can select what folder you want to use. The Style menu lets you choose what mode to
apply the wallpaper with (i.e. zoom, center, maximize etc.) The BG Color button lets you choose
what background color is behind your image. On the upper right is the monitor selector drop-down
menu, you can choose from All Monitors (same image/style on all), Span (one image spanning all),
and after that will be listed all monitors connected. And of course the Apply button to use after
you have selected a monitor, wallpaper, and style.

At the top is the infobar which gives you the full path to the wallpaper currently applied, for
multi-monitor setups the monitor drop-down selector also toggles the infobar if you have different
papers applied on different monitors, so you can always know what's currently on each display.

To make your wallpaper choices restore after reboot, you need to add it to your autostart file
similar to the way other wallpaper apps do:
"vuupaper --restore &"
In Openbox this is usually ~/.config/openbox/autostart but there are many ways to do it, consult
the docs for your system/WM/DE to find out what's best.

Last edited by greenjeans (2026-05-04 01:27:47)

greenjeans · Yesterday 23:04:58

Okay, got a lot done last night and today, still needs more testing and of course I had another better idea after I shut down my dev partition for the night (Murphy's law). I have NOT packaged or uploaded the changes to git, wanted to possibly get some thoughts on it and do a lot more testing before doing so.

1. Fixed the alphabetizing issue, case-insensitive now. Real forehead slapper that, i'm usually a stickler for sorting, guess I got excited and rushed it out a bit. Even numbered files weren't right. All better now.

2. Fixed first run, it will now default to /usr/share/backgrounds if you click Cancel. And that's where the new thought came from, I should just label that button "Default" and add to the first run dialog: " Click Default below to use the standard system folder /usr/share/backgrounds, or click Choose Directory to select a different folder"

3. Also related to first-run, when you hit the Choose Directory button, it now opens the file-chooser to /usr/share/backgrounds, as possibly someone might have specific folders within that directory they want to choose instead of the main directory. But of course a user can navigate from there wherever they want.

4. I did a LOT of messing with gtk, if you've ever tried it you know how many re-compiles that takes, it can be weird and finicky at times but I suppose there's reasons for that. Long story short I tightened up all the padding/spacing, it now has a nice grid of 12 displayed at default size with rows of 4 with room left for the scroll bar and a little breathing room at the right side and bottom. I re-claimed a lot of real estate that way, only 10 px in height saved but I reduced width by 120 px.
Click the thumb below for a larger image.

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#1 2026-04-20 02:15:16

Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

#2 2026-04-20 05:33:49

Re: Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

#3 2026-04-22 23:46:28

Re: Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

#4 2026-04-23 03:58:57

Re: Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

#5 2026-04-23 12:41:18

Re: Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

#6 2026-04-26 17:16:48

Re: Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

#7 2026-05-02 04:36:36

Re: Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

#8 2026-05-02 12:51:56

Re: Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

#9 2026-05-02 16:41:38

Re: Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

#10 2026-05-03 19:59:19

Re: Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

#11 Yesterday 23:04:58

Re: Basic gtk3 wallpaper setter

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