The official wallpaper packs of Fedora have always been iconic. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most anticipated components of an upcoming release, and there’s a reason why. For example, take a look at the new Fedora 32’s default wallpaper:
Fedora 32 Default Background
Backgrounds being an important part that the Fedora team works on, they also provide the option to install backgrounds from older releases even on the newer versions and vice-versa. This feature is summed up in a very simple command.
Installing Official Wallpapers from Fedora Releases
Requirement
The command requires the name of the desktop environment you have on your system. Fedora, by default, comes with GNOME. If you have the default release, that’s your DE. If you are using any other desktop environments, you probably know it already. In case you don’t, enter this command:
echo $DESKTOP_SESSION
Finding out DE
This will output the name of the DE on Fedora. If it doesn’t work, go through About system info, and you will almost certainly find out.
Installing Background
The installation command is this:
sudo dnf install f[Version Number]-backgrounds-[Desktop Environment]
For example, I will install my favorite background – Fedora 29’s on My Fedora Xfce Spin:
sudo dnf install f29-backgrounds-xfce
Installation of Wallpaper Pack
On the default Fedora Workstation that ships with GNOME desktop environment, the command will become:
sudo dnf install f29-backgrounds-gnome
Similarly, replace 29 in the above command with that of the version number of the wallpaper you are looking for. For example to get Fedora 30 wallpaper on GNOME DE, use:
sudo dnf install f30-backgrounds-gnome
Installing Supplemental Backgrounds
Apart from the official default background, there is also a group of 16 beautiful backgrounds that come with every release of Fedora. While the default background is always a blue-themed animated pattern-based background, the supplemental wallpapers are selected from community submitted ones driven by guidelines outlined by the Fedora project.
Users can also install the supplemental wallpapers if they want to. The command is similar and looks like this.
sudo dnf install f[Version Number]-backgrounds-extras-[Desktop Environment]
Fedora 32 with F29 Background
Wallpaper Selection
The wallpaper selection process for Fedora is interesting. In the case of the default wallpaper, it is the Fedora design team that works on it. It becomes the face of the release.
As for the supplemental wallpapers, the Fedora team allows users to contribute to that. For every upcoming distribution, the Fedora team announces the beginning of the contribution process with the respective deadlines and requirements.
Contributing
First of all, you need to have a FAS (Fedora Account System) account to be able to participate. You need to agree to the Contributor License Agreement before contributing to your image.
Fedora uses the application Nuancier to allow users to vote for the contributed wallpapers. There is an essential list of guidelines to follow for contributing, some of which are:
The image…
- should not violate someone else’s rights
- should have consent and approval of the creator
- should not contain trademarks or brands
- should not contain sexual, violent or substance abuse content
- should not display any sort of discrimination against any group of people
- should not contain hats (especially Fedoras!)
- should not contain any religious or nationalist symbolism
- should not include version numbers, text, identifiable people, pets or captivated and mistreated animals
Technical requirements:
- A 16:9 ratio is recommended
- Minimum resolution is 1600×1200
- No watermarks or photographers’ symbols should be present on the image
You can find the full set of requirements here.
Conclusion
Fedora has always come with amazing backgrounds that resolves one of the most dilemmas of the users. The supplementary wallpapers are still beautiful, and the choosing process is impressive. It lets the users contribute in a different way to software, which is appreciated by non-programming users. You can find the wallpapers of all Fedora releases here.
