rpios-look

Makes Debian look like Raspberry Pi OS, without breaking Debian.

It installs the official Raspberry Pi OS themes, icons, cursors, fonts, wallpapers, panel, file manager and login screen style, and applies Raspberry Pi OS's desktop settings. Everything is added as a separate session on the login screen, Raspberry Pi Desktop. Your settings in Debian's own sessions are not changed; on Debian 10 to 12 they use Raspberry Pi OS's panel and file manager too, unless --no-pi-apps is given (see Panel).

Overview

Supported systems: Debian 10 to 13 and later, including testing, unstable and derivatives, on amd64, i386, arm64 and armhf. Other architectures get the themes, icons, fonts and wallpapers only.
Themes: PiXflat, PiXnoir, PiXtrix, PiXonyx and PiX, all installed.
Sessions: Raspberry Pi Desktop on X, and on Wayland where the computer suits it.
Panel and file manager: Raspberry Pi OS's own, in its layout for your Debian release: on Debian 13 and later beside Debian's, on Debian 10 to 12 in place of Debian's (see Panel).
Login screen: Raspberry Pi OS's style, with Debian's login artwork. LightDM is installed where no other login manager is used.

Differences from Raspberry Pi OS:

The Debian logo replaces the Raspberry Pi logo on the menu button and the login screen.
Raspberry Pi's system tools are left out: raspi-config, the updater, and the panel's power and network plugins. The network icon comes from Debian's nm-applet.
The login screen is Debian's LightDM greeter in Raspberry Pi OS's style, with a session chooser. --pi-greeter uses Raspberry Pi's greeter instead.

Requirements

Debian 10 (buster) or later, or a derivative.
A normal user account with sudo rights. Do not run the script as root.
Internet access, except for an offline installation.
About 80 MB of disk space (about 200 MB more for the 4K wallpapers).

Installation

Download rpios-look.sh, or clone this repository.
In a terminal, in the script's folder, run:
```
bash rpios-look.sh
```
Review the detected computer and the plan, answer y, and enter your password when asked.
When the packages are installed, choose a theme. Press Enter to keep the default.
Log out. Raspberry Pi Desktop is selected on the login screen. Log in.

Running the script again is safe. Without a terminal, or with -y, every question takes its default answer.

Commands

Command	Action
`bash rpios-look.sh`	Install or update
`bash rpios-look.sh --refresh`	List available updates, then ask to apply them
`bash rpios-look.sh --uninstall`	Remove the look
`bash rpios-look.sh --prepare-upgrade`	Prepare for a Debian release upgrade
`bash rpios-look.sh --download`	Build `packages/` for an offline installation
`bash rpios-look.sh --offline`	Install from `packages/`
`bash rpios-look.sh --help`	Show all commands and options

Themes

Name	Style	Font	Wallpaper
`pixflat`	Light, Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm (default on Debian 10 to 12)	Piboto Light	fisherman
`pixnoir`	Dark, Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm	Piboto Light	fisherman
`pixtrix`	Light, Raspberry Pi OS Trixie (default on Debian 13 and later)	Nunito Sans Light	sunrise
`pixonyx`	Dark, Raspberry Pi OS Trixie	Nunito Sans Light	sunrise
`pix`	Legacy, Raspberry Pi OS Buster and Bullseye	Piboto Light	fisherman

The installer asks for the theme at the end. To change the default theme for all users later, run the installer with --theme:

bash rpios-look.sh --theme pixonyx
bash rpios-look.sh --theme auto      # the default for your Debian release

Changing the look

The look is changed for the current user only. Changes apply at once and are kept for later logins.

Session	In the menu	Themes
X	Preferences > Customize Look and Feel	All installed themes
Wayland	Preferences > Control Centre	Light (PiXtrix) or Dark (PiXonyx), as on Raspberry Pi OS 13
Both	`rpios-look-set` (command line)	All installed themes

Control Centre (Wayland)

The Control Centre is Raspberry Pi OS 13's own Appearance Settings (pipanel), with Defaults, Desktop, Taskbar and Theme pages. It is installed with the Wayland session.

rpios-look-set

rpios-look-set changes the look from the command line. It needs no sudo.

Options

Option	Values
`--theme NAME`	`pixflat`, `pixnoir`, `pixtrix`, `pixonyx`, `pix`, or any GTK theme. Also sets the theme's icons, cursor, window frames and font.
`--light`, `--dark`	The light or dark version of the current theme. Icons and font are kept.
`--icons NAME`	`pixflat`, `pixtrix`, `pix`, or any icon theme.
`--window NAME`	Window frames: `pixflat`, `pixnoir`, `pixtrix`, `pixonyx`, `pix`, or any Openbox theme. `theme` makes them follow the theme again.
`--font NAME`	`nunito`, `piboto`, `piboto-condensed`, `sans`, `serif`, `mono`, or any installed font family.
`--cursor NAME`, `--cursor-size N`	Cursor theme and size in pixels.
`--accent COLOUR`	Highlight colour, for example `'#d6363c'`, or `default`.
`--desktop-color COLOUR`, `--desktop-text COLOUR`	Desktop background and icon text colours.
`--wallpaper W`, `--wallpaper-mode M`	A wallpaper name or path, or `none`; and `crop`, `fit`, `stretch`, `center`, `tile` or `color`.
`--list`	Show the installed themes, icons, window frames and fonts.
`--show`	Show the current look.
`--reset`	Return to the session's default look.

The font's style and size are set automatically to suit the theme, as in Raspberry Pi OS (for example, Nunito Sans Light 12). Window titles use the same font.

Examples

rpios-look-set --theme pixtrix
rpios-look-set --dark
rpios-look-set --theme pixflat --icons pixtrix --window pixnoir
rpios-look-set --font piboto
rpios-look-set --accent '#2e7d32' --cursor-size 32
rpios-look-set --reset

These settings apply to both sessions, X and Wayland. As on Raspberry Pi OS, windows have rounded corners on X and square corners on Wayland.

X or Wayland

How it is chosen

Before installing, the script detects the computer: model, processor, memory, graphics and driver, 3D acceleration, virtual machine, kernel, Debian release, installed desktops and login manager. Following Raspberry Pi OS, it selects:

Display system	When
Wayland (labwc)	Debian 13 or later, and either a Raspberry Pi (any model, as on Raspberry Pi OS) or a computer with at least 2 GB of memory, a 64-bit system, and 3D graphics with a supported driver: Intel (`i915`, `xe`), AMD (`amdgpu`), ARM boards (`panfrost`, `lima`, `etnaviv` and others), virtual machines with 3D (`virtio_gpu`, `vmwgfx`).
X (Openbox)	All other cases: Debian 10 to 12, less than 2 GB of memory, 32-bit systems, PC processors without SSE4.2, graphics without 3D acceleration or kernel modesetting, older AMD graphics (`radeon`), NVIDIA graphics.

Only the Wayland packages are optional. The X server is always installed, because the login screen runs on it, and the X session is always available.

Changing it later

Run the installer with one of these options. The choice is remembered, and your next login uses it.

bash rpios-look.sh --wayland        # use Wayland
bash rpios-look.sh --no-wayland     # use X only
bash rpios-look.sh --auto           # let the script decide again

To switch for one login only, choose the session on the login screen.

NVIDIA graphics

The X session is used by default. Wayland with NVIDIA's own driver needs kernel modesetting, which Debian leaves off. If it is off, the script keeps X even with --wayland. To enable it:

printf 'options nvidia-drm modeset=1\noptions nvidia-current-drm modeset=1\n' \
  | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-modeset.conf
sudo update-initramfs -u
sudo reboot

Then run bash rpios-look.sh --wayland. Wayland on NVIDIA can show minor display glitches; --no-wayland returns to X.

Panel

Launchers

As on Raspberry Pi OS, the panel shows a generic Web Browser launcher with the standard browser icon. It opens Debian's default browser (x-www-browser), which is also the session's default for web links. To change the default browser:

sudo update-alternatives --config x-www-browser

Settings and applets

Right-click the panel to change its settings and applets:

On X: Panel Settings and Add / Remove Panel Items.
On Wayland: the panel's settings open in the Control Centre.

Layout

The panel is Raspberry Pi OS's own layout for your Debian release (Raspberry Pi OS 10 to 13), with its spaces and separators: menu, launchers, taskbar, eject, Bluetooth, network, volume, clock, battery and magnifier. Differences:

The network icon is nm-applet's, in the notification area, which takes the network plugin's place; other programs' tray icons appear there too.
A keyboard layout applet sits before the clock. It shows the current layout by its short name (FR, US, ...); right-click it to add layouts and choose the key that switches them. Raspberry Pi OS has none.
The battery appears only on a computer with a battery.
The microphone and Bluetooth icons appear only when the computer has a microphone or a Bluetooth adapter, as on Raspberry Pi OS.
Plugins that need Raspberry Pi hardware or tools (updater, power, network) are left out.

Raspberry Pi's panel and file manager on Debian 10 to 12

Before Raspberry Pi OS 13, Raspberry Pi's panel and file manager are its own builds of Debian's lxpanel, pcmanfm and libfm, under the same names. From Raspberry Pi OS 11 they use GTK 3, and Debian 11 and 12 build theirs for GTK 2, so the two cannot be mixed. With --pi-apps (the default), the script installs Raspberry Pi OS's builds for your release in place of Debian's, with Raspberry Pi's panel plugins (menu, eject, Bluetooth, volume, battery, magnifier). Debian's LXDE session then uses them too.

--uninstall and --prepare-upgrade install Debian's versions again.
--no-pi-apps keeps Debian's panel and file manager, in Raspberry Pi OS's layout.
If Raspberry Pi has no build of a package of these sources that is installed here (for example a -dbg package), Debian's are kept.

Applets

On X, Raspberry Pi's panel offers its own applets and these Debian applets:

Applet	Purpose
Keyboard Layout Handler (`xkb`)	Keyboard layout
Weather (`weather`)	Weather forecast
Volume Control (`volume`)	ALSA volume
Temperature Monitor (`thermal`)	System temperature
Resource Monitors (`monitors`)	CPU and memory graphs
Desktop Number (`deskno`)	Current desktop
CPU Frequency (`cpufreq`)	CPU frequency

Debian's network status and keyboard LED applets are not offered: they stop Raspberry Pi's panel on Debian 13. Programs with a tray icon appear in the notification area. With --no-pi-apps, the session uses Debian's panel, which offers all of Debian's applets.

Install options

The installer remembers these options and reuses them on later runs.

Option	Description	Default
`--theme NAME`	Theme from the table, or `auto`.	Asked at the end
`--icons NAME`	`pixflat`, `pixtrix`, `pix` or `auto`.	`auto`
`--wallpaper W`	A file in `/usr/share/rpd-wallpaper`, a path, or `auto`.	`auto`
`--4k`, `--no-4k`	4K wallpapers.	Off
`--wayland`, `--no-wayland`, `--auto`	Display system (see X or Wayland).	Auto
`--pi-apps`, `--no-pi-apps`	Raspberry Pi's panel and file manager; on Debian 10 to 12 in place of Debian's (see Panel).	On
`--login-screen`, `--no-login-screen`	Raspberry Pi OS login screen style (LightDM, installed where no other login manager is used).	On
`--pi-greeter`, `--no-pi-greeter`	Raspberry Pi's greeter, which has no session chooser.	Off
`--login-background B`	`debian`, `raspios`, or a path to a picture.	`debian`
`--qt`, `--no-qt`	Qt applications follow the theme.	Off

These options apply to one run only:

Option	Description
`-d`, `--desktop LIST`	Also apply the look to other desktops, for you only: `xfce`, `gnome`, `budgie`, `cinnamon`, `mate`, `lxqt`, `openbox`, `labwc`, `kde` or `all`. Changed settings are backed up and restored on uninstall.
`--bundle LIST`	With `--download`: only these release/architecture pairs, for example `trixie/amd64`.
`-y`, `--yes`	Answer yes to every question.
`-v`, `--verbose`	Print every command run with sudo.
`--no-log`	Do not write a log file.

What is installed

From Raspberry Pi OS

Each package is verified against Raspberry Pi's signing key.

Kind	Packages
Themes	`pixflat-theme`, `pixtrix-theme`, `pix-theme`, `gtk2-engines-pixflat`, `gtk2-engines-clearlookspix`
Icons and cursors	`pixflat-icons`, `pixtrix-icons`, `rpd-icons`
Fonts	`fonts-piboto`, `fonts-nunito-sans`
Wallpapers	`rpd-wallpaper`, `rpd-wallpaper-trixie`, or their 4K versions
Login screen	`pi-greeter` (with LightDM)
Panel (Debian 13+)	`lxpanel-pi` and its plugins, `pishutdown`, `gui-runcmd`; for Wayland, `wf-panel-pi` and its plugins
Panel (Debian 10 to 12)	Raspberry Pi OS's `lxpanel` and `lxpanel-data`, in place of Debian's, and its plugins (`lxplug-*`)
Settings (Wayland)	`rpcc` (Control Centre), `pipanel` (Appearance Settings), `sudopwd`
File manager (Debian 13+)	`pcmanfm-pi`, installed beside Debian's
File manager (Debian 10 to 12)	Raspberry Pi OS's `pcmanfm` and `libfm`, in place of Debian's

From Debian

Only missing packages are installed.

Kind	Packages
Session	`lxsession`, `openbox`, `lxpanel`, `pcmanfm`, `lxappearance`, `dconf-cli`, `libglib2.0-bin`, `accountsservice` (with LightDM)
Display	`xserver-xorg`, `libgl1-mesa-dri`, `x11-utils`; for Wayland, `labwc`, `swaybg`, `kanshi`, `xsettingsd`, `wlr-randr`, `xwayland`
Themes	`gtk2-engines-pixbuf`, `libgtk2.0-bin`, `gnome-icon-theme`, `adwaita-icon-theme-legacy` (Debian 13), `sound-theme-freedesktop`, Liberation Mono
Help menu	`debian-reference`

Hardware support

Added only for hardware the computer has, and kept on uninstall:

Wi-Fi: NetworkManager, wpasupplicant, iw, wireless-regdb, rfkill, unless another network manager is installed. Interfaces in /etc/network/interfaces are not changed.
Bluetooth: BlueZ, rfkill, Bluetooth audio, and blueman where Debian's panel is used.
Login screen: LightDM and its GTK greeter where no other login manager is used, and desktop-base for Debian's login artwork.
Sound: PipeWire (Debian 12 and later) or PulseAudio, if no sound server is installed.
Firmware: packages for firmware the kernel failed to load during this boot, from Debian's non-free-firmware component. If that component is not enabled, the summary explains how to add it.

The session

Login screen entries: Raspberry Pi Desktop (X), and Raspberry Pi Desktop on Wayland where the computer suits it. The first install selects the suitable one; the login screen remembers your choice.
Settings: Raspberry Pi OS's values for theme, icons, cursor, fonts, hinting, toolbar icons and event sounds.
Windows: the theme's Openbox frames, one desktop, and Raspberry Pi OS's keys: Super for the menu, Alt+F2 to run, Ctrl+Alt+T for a terminal, Ctrl+Shift+Escape for the task manager, Ctrl+Alt+Delete to shut down.
Panel: Raspberry Pi OS's layout at the top of the screen (see Panel).
File manager: on Debian 10 to 12, Raspberry Pi OS's own settings for its release (folder tree, thumbnails, window size).
Menu: Raspberry Pi OS's menu and categories, with Help, Preferences and Logout.
Desktop and file manager: Raspberry Pi OS's wallpaper, colours, font and file manager settings.
GTK 4 applications: use the theme's colours and its light or dark style.
Wayland: labwc with Raspberry Pi OS's window settings and keys, and Raspberry Pi's Wayland panel.

Login screen. LightDM's greeter uses Raspberry Pi OS's colours, theme and font, with the Debian logo and Debian's login artwork (--login-background raspios uses Raspberry Pi OS's). Without a login manager, LightDM is installed. Other login managers, such as GDM or SDDM, are not changed; the sessions are listed there too, and the summary explains how to switch to LightDM.

Other desktops (--desktop):

Desktop	Applied
Xfce	Theme, icons, cursor, fonts, wallpaper, top panel, window frames
GNOME, Budgie	GTK theme, icons, cursor, fonts, button layout, wallpaper
Cinnamon, MATE	Theme, icons, cursor, fonts, wallpaper
LXQt	Icons, cursor, Openbox theme, wallpaper
Openbox, labwc	Window settings; labwc also cursor and GTK settings
KDE Plasma	Icons and cursor

Updating

No package source is added, so apt upgrade does not update the Raspberry Pi OS packages. To update them:

bash rpios-look.sh --refresh lists available updates, then asks.
bash rpios-look.sh applies updates directly.

Installed packages are never downgraded. Debian packages are updated by apt upgrade as usual.

Upgrading Debian

Run bash rpios-look.sh --prepare-upgrade. It removes the Raspberry Pi packages that are built for one Debian release (panel, file manager, greeter, GTK 2 engines), and on Debian 10 to 12 installs Debian's panel and file manager again. Themes, icons, fonts and wallpapers stay.
Upgrade Debian and reboot.
Run bash rpios-look.sh.

Uninstalling

bash rpios-look.sh --uninstall

The script lists what it removes and asks first. It:

removes the Raspberry Pi Desktop sessions and restores Debian's login screen;
on Debian 10 to 12, installs Debian's panel and file manager again in place of Raspberry Pi OS's;
after a second question, removes the packages it installed, except those other software needs and the hardware support (X server, network, Bluetooth, sound, firmware);
restores the settings that --desktop changed for you;
removes your Raspberry Pi Desktop settings (theme, panel, desktop), which no other session reads.

Packages installed before the script, or later, are never removed.

A fresh install detects the computer again: it does not reuse the options or settings of an earlier install.

Offline installation

On a computer with internet access, run bash rpios-look.sh --download. This builds packages/ next to the script for every supported Debian release and architecture. Use --bundle trixie/amd64 to build one only.
Copy rpios-look.sh and packages/ to the offline computer.
There, run bash rpios-look.sh --offline.

packages/ includes VERSIONS.md and SHA256SUMS. It is not stored in this repository.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
The look is missing after login	Choose Raspberry Pi Desktop in the login screen's session menu.
Windows have no title bars	Log out and back in; the session repairs settings saved by earlier versions.
dpkg was interrupted	Run `sudo dpkg --configure -a` and `sudo apt-get -f install`, then the script again.
404 Not Found	Your Debian release has moved to archive.debian.org. Update `/etc/apt/sources.list` as Debian describes, run `sudo apt update`, then the script again.
Something looks incomplete	Run the same command again; every step is safe to repeat.

Each run writes a log to your home folder, for example rpios-look-install-<date>-<time>.log. The ten newest logs of each kind are kept.

How it works

Session: like Raspberry Pi OS, the session is an LXDE profile (rpd-x, or LXDE-pi before Debian 13). Its settings are in /usr/share/rpios-look, which only this session reads.
Raspberry Pi OS's file names: your settings use the same files as on Raspberry Pi OS, for example ~/.config/openbox/rpd-rc.xml and ~/.config/labwc/rc.xml, so its own settings programs work unchanged. Settings saved by earlier versions are moved at the next login.
Generated package: everything the script writes outside your home folder is in one package, rpios-look-debian, so dpkg tracks and removes it. It holds the session, the login screen style, the icon sets with the Debian logo, and rpios-look-set.
Records: installed packages, options and replaced files are kept in /var/lib/rpios-look; per-user records in ~/.local/state/rpios-look.
Releases: new Debian releases are recognised from distro-info-data. The script uses the newest Raspberry Pi OS release available for your Debian release, and takes panel, menu and settings from Raspberry Pi's own packages of that release.
Earlier versions: installs of raspios-look (3.0.0) and pixflat-theme (2) are taken over automatically.

Keeping Debian safe

The script follows Debian's DontBreakDebian guidance:

No extra package sources. Only individual Raspberry Pi packages are installed, never a repository. A package is refused if it has the same name as a Debian package, replaces or conflicts with one, or changes Debian's files. The one exception is Raspberry Pi OS's own builds of Debian's panel and file manager on Debian 10 to 12, which --pi-apps installs in place of Debian's: the plan names them, and --uninstall and --prepare-upgrade install Debian's again (see Panel). Packages with compiled code must match your Debian release, and all their dependencies must come from Debian; dependencies that only a Raspberry Pi needs (raspi-config for the Raspberry Pi OS 10 and 11 battery plugin) are left out.
Debian packages come from your APT sources only. Before installing, the script checks every package's origin. APT runs with --no-remove, so nothing is removed to make room.
Everything is tracked. All system files are in packages dpkg knows about. The only exceptions, all undone by --uninstall, are /etc/lightdm/pi-greeter.conf (with --pi-greeter), the users' session choice, and the records in /var/lib/rpios-look.
Nothing happens without asking. The plan lists every package with its version and origin before anything changes.

Verification. Raspberry Pi indexes are checked against the Raspberry Pi Archive Signing Key (CF8A 1AF5 02A2 AA2D 763B AE7E 82B1 2992 7FA3 303E), Debian indexes against debian-archive-keyring, and every package against its SHA256. Downloads come only from https://archive.raspberrypi.org/, https://deb.debian.org/ and https://archive.debian.org/.

Credits and licence

The themes, icons, fonts, wallpapers and desktop settings are the work of Raspberry Pi Ltd and the Raspberry Pi desktop team. This project installs their official packages on Debian. All artwork keeps its own licence (see /usr/share/doc/<package>/copyright).

The script is released under the MIT licence; see LICENSE.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
packages		packages
screenshot		screenshot
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
rpios-look.sh		rpios-look.sh

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