using meta + x then package install I tried installing a theme. I am able to apply it and it looks great... problem is if i restart spacemacs the following happens:
Found 1 orphan package(s) to delete... --> deleting color-theme-sanityinc-tomorrow... [1/1]
anyone know how to fix this? I tried googling and changing my settings (specially this setting dotspacemacs-install-packages 'used-only)), but nothing seems to help.
Don't install packages with package install. See the FAQ here: https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs/blob/master/doc/FAQ.org#why-are-packages-installed-with-package-install-automatically-deleted-by-spacemacs-when-it-boots
Instead, install packages with dotspacemacs-additional-packages, or create a layer, or set the variable dotspacemacs-install-packages to used-but-keep-unused which will prevent Spacemacs from removing the packages you installed manually.
As for themes, just install the themes-megapack layer to get a bunch of different themes. The page for it is here: https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs/tree/master/layers/%2Bthemes/themes-megapack
