GNOME Desktop #
dconf #
dconf is a low-level configuration system and settings management tool (for graphical apps and DE, this is similar to the Windows Registry).
The convetional tool to view and edit the dconf database contents is the gsettings CLI command.
However, dconf Editor gives a more convenient GUI.
Tip
Always install dconf Editor to a new system running GNOME desktop and apps.
Fractional Scaling #
Warning
This is still an experimental feature. Some non-native apps do not seem to handle it well when fractional display scaling is enabled. One notable example is VS Code which becomes blurry even on HiDPI screens. Fixing it requires modifying the launcher command.
Note
On Debian 13 (trixie, release), fractional scaling seems to be enabled out of the box. Also, VS Code does not look blurry. So, maybe the issue got fixed between GNOME versions 42 and 48.
In dconf key /org/gnome/mutter/experimental-features append 'scale-monitor-framebuffer' to the list of values.
Backup / Restore dconf #
This is useful when we want to transfer app settings from one system to another.
To export dconf values run:
dconf dump / > dconf_backup.txt
And to restore run:
dconf load -f / < dconf_backup.txt
where:
-fis to force update values.
This operations can be done on a subtree.
Example: export a Tilix profile #
For example, to backup a Tilix terminal profile, run:
# Replace ${uuid_of_the_profile} with the actual UUID of the profile to be exported.
dconf dump /com/gexperts/Tilix/profiles/${uuid_of_the_profile}/ > my_tilix_profile.txt
When importing, we need to remember to append the UUID of the added theme to /com/gexperts/Tilix/profiles/list.