Nostalgia For Linux

Whether you're keen on finding specific wallpapers for each day, week, or month, or you're the type of user who loves to rely on the default wallpaper (or wallpaper collection) an OS ships with, I think we can all agree, wallpapers do make a difference.

Most Linux distributions, Ubuntu included, usually come with a great spectrum of default wallpapers for us to choose from. However, if you're a GNOME enjoyer/fan, you can always install the gnome-backgrounds package (available in the Ubuntu repos).

GNOME wallpapers have always been somewhat interesting boasting a very neutral look and feel. Over the years, the geometric pattern has oscillated around stripes, triangles, and other geometric figures. This abstract, low contrast design makes them interesting without being distracting.

Nostalgia is a simple and functional GTK application that makes it very easy for you to use Jakub Steiner's awesome dynamic default wallpapers of past GNOME releases.

In short, it's a wallpaper changer application that allows you to set GNOME wallpapers with no more than a few mouse clicks, you know, to be able to relieve the nostalgia and relive fond memories of past GNOME releases.

The application can be installed from Flathub, and you only need to click the wallpaper you want in order for the app to automatically set it on your desktop (make sure to provide the app with the permission it requires to achieve this, you'll be prompted with a message when you first want to set up a wallpaper).

The wallpaper collection this app provides goes all the way back to the GNOME 3.0 release from April 6, 2011, up to a relatively GNOME 41, from September 16, 2020.

While we appreciate the dedication that went into making the app, it's somewhat disappointing that it doesn't provide the wallpapers from the latest iterations of GNOME.

This may be because starting with GNOME 42, each wallpaper came in two variants (Light and Dark). Sometimes, it does take a bit of time until the app is capable of changing the wallpaper you want, so a progress indicator/message would have also been great.

Despite it not being "perfect," Nostalgia is a great little app that look great, and works well (for the most part). If you're into the whole GNOME look aesthetic, then Nostalgia will for sure bring a bit of "nostalgia" in  your life.