Freedesktop.org explained

freedesktop.org
Commercial:No
Type:Software development management system
Language:English
Author:Havoc Pennington
Current Status:Online

freedesktop.org (fd.o), formerly X Desktop Group (XDG),[1] [2] is a project to work on interoperability and shared base technology for free-software desktop environments for the X Window System (X11) and Wayland on Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. Although freedesktop.org produces specifications for interoperability, it is not a formal standards body.[3]

The project was founded by Havoc Pennington, a GNOME developer working for Red Hat in March 2000. Widely used open-source X-based desktop projects, such as GNOME, KDE's Plasma Desktop, and Xfce, are collaborating with the freedesktop.org project. In 2006, the project released Portland 1.0 (xdg-utils), a set of common interfaces for desktop environments.[4] freedesktop.org joined the X.Org Foundation in 2019.[5] [6] Some of the project's servers are hosted by Portland State University.[7]

Hosted projects

freedesktop.org provides hosting for a number of relevant projects.[8] [9] These include:

Windowing system and graphics

Software related to windowing systems and graphics in general

Other

Also, Avahi (a free Zeroconf implementation) started as a fd.o project but has since become a separate project.

Base Directory Specification

See also: Filesystem Hierarchy Standard. XDG Base Directory Specification (XDG BDS) introduces a range of variables where user-specific files used by programs should be found.[14] Many tools and applications utilize these variables by default.[15]

User directories

Besides the variables mentioned below, XDG BDS also specifies that users' local binary files may be installed into . Systems compliant with the spec are expected to make this directory available in their CLI's environment variable.

For user application's own data files
  • Default to
    For user's app configuration files
  • Default to
    For user-specific app session data, which should be stored for future reuse
  • Default to
  • May include logs, recently used files, application-specific information (e.g. window layout, views, opened files, undo history, etc.), akin to session data that should be stored by app by request of system session manager, like X session manager
    For user-specific apps cache files
  • Default to
    For user-specific app runtime files like sockets which must not survive reboot and full logout/login cycles

    System directories

    Colon-separated list of preference-ordered paths to search for data files in
  • Default to
    The same as above but for config files
  • Default to

    Stated aims

    The project aims to catch interoperability issues much earlier in the process. It is not for legislating formal standards. Stated goals include:

    See also

    Sources

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: X desktop group.
    2. Web site: Freedesktop.org, home of the X Desktop Group . 2013-08-26 . 2001-02-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20010202173600/http://www.freedesktop.org/ . bot: unknown .
    3. Web site: Specifications . 2023-10-27 . freedesktop.org.
    4. http://desktoplinux.com/news/NS7435528984.html Portland points desktop Linux at $10 billion market
    5. Web site: X.Org To Join Forces With FreeDesktop.org While Foundation Elections Hit A Snag. 9 September 2021.
    6. Web site: Larabel . Michael . 11 April 2019 . X.Org To Join Forces With FreeDesktop.org While Foundation Elections Hit A Snag . 2023-10-27 . Phoronix . en.
    7. Web site: Welcome to freedesktop.org . 27 October 2023 . Freedesktop.org.
    8. Web site: FreedesktopProjects . freedesktop.org . 2013-09-22.
    9. Web site: Software . freedesktop.org . 2013-09-22.
    10. Web site: Glamor . 17 May 2013 . freedesktop.org . 31 October 2015.
    11. Web site: Pixman. pixman.org.
    12. Web site: DIY: Get top-quality open source security tools in one distro . Wallen . Jack . 6 December 2011 . News, Tips, and Advice for Technology Professionals . 2019-06-21 . 2021-04-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210418175608/https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/diy-it-guy/diy-get-top-quality-open-source-security-tools-in-one-distro/ . dead .
    13. Web site: [ANNOUNCE] libinput 0.4.0 ]. freedesktop.org . 2014-06-24.
    14. https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html XDG Base Directory Specification
    15. Web site: XDG Base Directory - ArchWiki. 2021-10-08. wiki.archlinux.org.
    16. Web site: freedesktop.org git . Gitweb.freedesktop.org . 2013-09-22.
    17. Web site: ViewVC Repository Listing . WebCVS.freedesktop.org . 2013-09-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131008063349/http://webcvs.freedesktop.org/ . 2013-10-08 .