Aisleriot solitaire not showing background texture

[Scott Ritchie]

Binary package hint: gnome-games

As of Maverick, solitaire isn't showing its background texture and is using a basic green default again. Problem also exists in Natty.

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/games-list/2010-October/msg00018.html shows something changed with paths in the version that came out just before Maverick, so it may be responsible.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: gnome-games (not installed)
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-28.49-generic 2.6.35.11
Uname: Linux 2.6.35-28-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: amd64
Date: Tue Mar 8 06:59:09 2011
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (20101007)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-games

[Scott Ritchie (scottritchie)]

Actually, our version of gnome-games is older than the indicated changelog, so maybe the newer version is the solution.

[Robert Ancell (robert-ancell)]

Support for background images in Aisleriot was removed:
http://git.gnome.org/browse/gnome-games/commit/?id=9ff16a30b2671b4cb58e02c4a81bf69b7d001251

We can set the color to something else, it will be a more significant patch to re-enable background image support.

[MestreLion (mestrelion)]

What was the rationale in this change? Aisleriot looks gorgeous in Lucid, with the background texture that looks like a real cassino card table velvet... and now in Maverick (and above) it looks so... dull and plain. Why was background support removed? Any fair reason?

[Scott Ritchie (scottritchie)]

I think I discussed the issue with the developer and he didn't seem averse to adding support back in, someone just needs to do it. Probably not too difficult.

[MestreLion (mestrelion)]

@Scott: But was there any particular reason for the support to be removed?

I doubt anyone but the original developers would have the knowledge to add the support back in. Is there any way to contact upstream devs and kindly ask this feature?

Maverick, Natty and now Oneiric have a plain background. I know for sure that Aisleriot is one of the first apps new users try when experimenting with Ubuntu for the first time. So a pleasant look is very important. It is sad Aisleriot now looks worse than in Lucid.

[Sebastian Stark (sebstark)]

I gave my mother her first linux laptop. First thing she complained about was the ugly, non-replacable background in solitaire (aisleriot). I tried to change it, but it seems impossible without going deep into the code.

Now she keeps using her old Windows Vista laptop for that reason. Bug #1 is just a joke, right?

[Sebastian Stark (sebstark)]

By the way: as a workaround it is possible to set the background by overriding the gtk theme css by adding something like this to ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css:

AisleriotBoard, aisleriot-board {
    background-image: url('/home/seb/Pictures/aisleriot-background.jpg');
}