LCARS Desktop Environment, official project name lcarsde, is a desktop environment that mimics the LCARS interface. LCARS is an acronym for Library Computer Access/Retrieval System, a computer operating system which features in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series.
The desktop environment consists of a window manager that is based on Xlib as well as a set of tool applications, which are a menu of active open applications, the status bar, a program selection and an application for logout, shutdown, etc. lcarsde does not provide its own display manager.
lcarsde consists of five parts:
- LCARS Window Manager – a stacking window manager and displays one window at a time per screen. Windows always open on the primary monitor and can be moved to other monitors with keyboard shortcuts. lcarswm has two kinds of monitors, one primary monitor (which maps to the X primary monitor) and “other” monitors. Only the primary screen has the upper (currently empty) information area and the side bar that shows the app menu. The information area and the app menu are only visible in the normal screen mode. There are three screen modes
- Application Menu – lists all open windows and allows to focus or close them.
- Status Bar – shows some system information like CPU usage and connectivity status and offers some buttons to perform actions like open a program or adjusting the sound.
- Application Selection – lists all installed programs (with a desktop file) in their categories and allows to run them by clicking on the programs button. In the default status bar configuration, this application is available via the button that is labeled “programs”.
- Logout Application – offers buttons for logout, shutdown, restart, … . In the default status bar configuration, this application is available via the button that is labeled “close”.
This is free and open source software.
Website: lcarsde.github.io
Support: GitHub Code Repository
Developer: Andreas Tennert
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
The different parts are written in Kotlin. Learn Kotlin with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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