Lumina 1.6.2 on DragonFly BSD | |
Developer(s) | iXsystems, Inc. |
---|---|
Written in | C++ |
Operating system | Unix and Unix-like |
Type | Desktop environment |
License | BSD-3-Clause |
Website | lumina-desktop |
Lumina Desktop Environment, or simply Lumina, is a plugin-based desktop environment for Unix and Unix-like operating systems. It is designed specifically as a system interface for TrueOS, and systems derived from Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) in general,[1] but has been ported to various Linux distributions.[2]
Created in 2012 by Ken Moore, Lumina was initially a set of extensions to Fluxbox, a stacking window manager for the X Window System.[3] By late 2013, Moore had developed a graphical overlay for Fluxbox based on Qt4, and had created a utility for "launching applications and opening files".[3] The codebase was integrated into the PC-BSD source repository by early 2014, and a port was added to the FreeBSD Ports collection in April 2014.[3] The source code has since been moved to a separate GitHub repository "under the PC-BSD umbrella" and converted to use Qt5.[3] Development also focused on replacing the Fluxbox core with a Qt-based window manager integrated with the Lumina desktop.[3]
The project avoids use of Linux-based tools or frameworks, such as D-Bus, Polkit, and systemd.[4]
The desktop and application menus are dynamically configured upon first being launched, as the desktop environment finds installed applications automatically to add to the menu and as a desktop icon.[2] The default panel includes a Start menu, task manager, and system tray, and its location can be customized.[2] Menus may be accessed via the Start menu or by right-clicking the mouse on the desktop background.[2]
Some features are specific to TrueOS, including hardware control of screen brightness (monitor backlight), preventing shutdown of an updating system, and integration with various TrueOS utilities.[1]
Utilities include: Insight, a file manager; File information, which reports a file's format and other details; and Lumina Open, a graphical utility to launch applications based on the selected file or folder.[2]
Version 1.4 included several new utilities.[5] The PDF reader lumina-pdf is based on the poppler library.[6] The Lumina Theme Engine replaced an earlier theme system; it enables a user to configure the desktop appearance and functionality, and ensures all Qt5 applications "present a unified appearance".[5]
Lumina has been ported to various BSD operating systems and Linux distributions. These include: