CTOS — Plasma 6 Splash Screen

A clean, minimalist splash screen for KDE Plasma 6 inspired by the ctOS boot sequence.

Just a centered animation on a pure black screen.

_{The actual splash animation, playing in real time.}

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Why

Most splash screens clutter the boot with logos, distribution names, and spinners. CTOS keeps it simple — a centered animation on a pure black screen, and nothing else. It installs as its own entry named CTOS in your Splash Screen settings.

Requirements

• KDE Plasma 6 (not compatible with Plasma 5)

Check your version:

plasmashell --version

Install

Pick whichever method you're comfortable with.

Method 1 — One-line script (recommended)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/debarch777/ctos-plasma-splash/main/install.sh -o /tmp/ctos-install.sh && bash /tmp/ctos-install.sh

Method 2 — Manual (.zip download)

1. Go to Releases
2. Download CTOS.zip
3. Unzip so you have a folder called CTOS containing metadata.json and contents/
4. Move it into place:

   mv CTOS ~/.local/share/plasma/look-and-feel/

Method 3 — Git clone

git clone https://github.com/debarch777/ctos-plasma-splash.git
cp -r ctos-plasma-splash/src/CTOS ~/.local/share/plasma/look-and-feel/

Activate

After installing with any method above:

1. Open System Settings → Appearance → Splash Screen
2. If CTOS doesn't appear yet, restart Plasma so it rescans:

   kquitapp6 plasmashell && kstart plasmashell

   (or just log out and back in)
3. Select CTOS → Apply
4. Hit the Test button to preview without rebooting

Uninstall

rm -rf ~/.local/share/plasma/look-and-feel/CTOS

Then pick a different splash in System Settings.

How it works

The theme is a Plasma Look-and-Feel package. The layout lives in src/CTOS/contents/splash/Splash.qml — just a fullscreen black Rectangle with a centered AnimatedImage playing animation.gif. That's it.

Tweak freely:

• Change the animation — replace src/CTOS/contents/splash/images/animation.gif
• Change the size — edit the sizeAnim: 704 value in Splash.qml
• Background color — change color: "#000" in Splash.qml

File structure

ctos-plasma-splash/
├── src/
│   └── CTOS/                          ← the installable theme folder
│       ├── metadata.json              ← theme id/name (shows as "CTOS")
│       └── contents/
│           ├── previews/
│           │   └── splash.png         ← thumbnail in settings
│           └── splash/
│               ├── Splash.qml         ← the layout (black + centered gif)
│               └── images/
│                   └── animation.gif  ← the CTOS-style animation
├── install.sh                         ← one-line installer
├── assets/                            ← repo graphics (animation, social card)
└── README.md

License

• Code (Splash.qml) licensed under GPLv2+. See LICENSE.
• Animation artwork © its respective authors.
• "ctOS" references the fictional operating system from Ubisoft's Watch Dogs; this project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ubisoft or KDE.