- Note
- AUI's codebase and documentation refer to the family of operating systems based on the Linux kernel with Freedesktop technology stack, which (mostly) excludes Android (operating system).
Linux is a family of open-source operating systems based on the Linux kernel. It comes in various distributions (distros) that include software and libraries from third parties, with the most popular ones being Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, and others. There are thousands of distros, which can be commercial or free.
When developing an app for Linux, it's essential to consider the differences in core components of each Linux distro, including initialization systems, windowing systems, desktop environments, distribution methods and variable quality hardware drivers. Additionally, due to extensive customizability options and low number of actual Linux desktop users this platform is often left unsupported by software. And, even in such case, users of your application can use compatibility layers such as WINE to launch your application under Linux.
Key considerations#
- Linux OS comes in form of a distro, most notable are:
- Ubuntu
- Debian
- Fedora
- Arch
- Linux Mint
- Steam OS
- Different display servers:
- X11 (legacy) - supported natively by AUI
- Wayland (newer) - despite being unsupported by AUI natively, AUI applications still can run on Wayland through compatibility layer, XWayland
- Different distribution methods:
- DEB (Debian+Ubuntu and flavors)
- RPM (Fedora+RHEL+SUSE and flavors)
- Snap (Ubuntu)
- Flatpak (all distros)
- AppImage (all distros)
- Recent innovation but growing in popularity - immutable distros, featuring atomic updates and stable secured core components by making them readonly. Hence, traditional distribution methods that require root access to user's machine (such as DEB and RPM) are not applicable (with some exceptions).
- Extensive customizability options
- Different desktop environment, most notable are:
- GNOME (GTK-based)
- KDE (Qt-based)
- Some configurations might use macOS (operating system) style global menu:
- KDE with global menu widget
- Ubuntu Unity
- There are distros designed for smartphones but they're considered unusable at the moment
AUI implementation specifics#
- Namespace AMessageBox
- Implemented with GtkDialog.
- Member APath::APPDATA
- Maps to
$HOME/.local/share/.
- Member APath::HOME
- Maps to user's home folder
/home/$USER.
- Member APath::TEMP
- Maps to system temp directory
/tmp.
