Martin Ankerl offers a very compact but quite usable GTK theme at [[http://martin.ankerl.com/2007/11/04/clearlooks-compact-gnome-theme/]]. It's based on the default GTK Clearlooks theme, so it's visibly unobtrusive, just smaller.

It will make all GTK apps, including Firefox, Thunderbird, and Eclipse, more compact.

To install it, first [[howto:installgnomecontrolcenter|install the gnome-control-center]] if you haven't already done so.

Then run ''sudo gnome-control-center'' from any [[howto:openterminalwindow|teminal window]], and click "Theme", then click the "Install New Theme" button. In the theme location editbox, copy in "http://martin.ankerl.com/files/ClearlooksCompact.tar.bz2".

This only installs the theme; to use it, select the highlighted theme, then click the "Theme Details" button, then select "Clearlooks Compact" in the "Controls" list. Then Close "Theme Details", and "Themes".