Lingmo OS

A modern Linux desktop environment with a distinctive design language

Features • Architecture • Tech Stack • Build • Contributing • License

About

Lingmo OS is an open-source Linux desktop environment for the amd64 architecture. It features a macOS-inspired layout with a top status bar, application dock, and unified settings system — delivering a clean, modern desktop experience with its own visual identity.

The desktop communicates entirely through D-Bus, with every component registering well-known services. The UI layer uses QML (Qt Quick) for smooth, hardware-accelerated rendering, and the system integrates tightly with X11/XCB for low-level window management.

Features

Unified Desktop Experience — Status bar, application dock, launcher, and system settings with consistent visual language
D-Bus IPC Architecture — All components communicate through well-defined D-Bus interfaces (com.lingmo.*)
Hybrid Qt5/Qt6 Support — Core services use Qt6; shell components remain on Qt5 for stability
Wayland Ready — Session manager supports both X11 and Wayland compositing via KWin
Theme System — Dark mode, accent colors, cursor themes, GTK2/GTK3 integration, font management
Built-in Apps — File manager, terminal, calculator, text editor, screenshot tool, system monitor, and more
Fcitx5 + Rime — Bundled input method framework with Rime engine for CJK input
Full Disk Installer — Based on Calamares with ZFS and LVM support

Architecture

System Overview

graph TB
    subgraph Session ["Session Layer"]
        SM[lingmo-session<br/>Session Manager]
        KWin[KWin<br/>Window Manager]
        SDDM[SDDM<br/>Display Manager]
    end

    subgraph Core ["Core Services (Qt6 / D-Bus)"]
        SD[settings-daemon<br/>Theme · Brightness · Language]
        ND[notificationd<br/>org.freedesktop.Notifications]
        PM[powerman<br/>Power Management]
        CB[clipboard<br/>Clipboard Manager]
        HK[chotkeys<br/>Global Hotkeys]
        SU[shutdown-ui<br/>Logout / Reboot UI]
    end

    subgraph Shell ["Desktop Shell (Qt5/QML)"]
        SB[StatusBar<br/>Tray · Clock · Battery]
        DP[DockPanel<br/>Application Dock]
        LA[Launcher<br/>Application Menu]
        FM[FileManager<br/>Qt6 · KIO]
        SET[Settings<br/>System Settings UI]
    end

    subgraph Libs ["Shared Libraries"]
        LS[libsys<br/>System Integration]
        LUI[libsysui<br/>QQC2 UI Components]
        LSH[libshell · Ocean<br/>Widget Style & Theme]
        LXDG[libsysqtxdg<br/>XDG Specifications]
    end

    SDDM --> SM
    SM --> KWin
    SM --> SD
    SM --> ND
    SM --> PM
    SM --> CB
    SM --> HK
    SM --> SB
    SM --> DP
    SM --> LA
    SM --> FM
    SM --> SET
    SD --> LS
    SB --> LS
    DP --> LS
    FM --> LS
    LS --> LUI
    LSH --> LUI

D-Bus Service Registry

Service Name	Component	Role
`com.lingmo.Session`	`core/session`	Session lifecycle, environment, autostart
`com.lingmo.Settings`	`core/settings-daemon`	Unified settings daemon
`com.lingmo.Theme`	`core/settings-daemon`	Theme, accent colors, cursors, fonts
`com.lingmo.Brightness`	`core/screen-brightness`	Screen brightness control
`com.lingmo.PrimaryBattery`	`core/settings-daemon`	Battery status reporting
`com.lingmo.PowerManager`	`core/powerman`	Idle management, lid watcher, CPU scaling
`com.lingmo.Language`	`core/settings-daemon`	Language and locale settings
`com.lingmo.Dock`	`core/settings-daemon`	Dock configuration
`com.lingmo.AppManager`	`shell/cc/Daemon`	Application management, permissions
`com.lingmo.Statusbar`	`shell/bc/StatusBar`	Status bar control interface
`com.lingmo.Launcher`	`shell/bc/Launcher`	Application launcher control
`com.lingmo.ShutdownUI`	`core/shutdown-ui`	Logout/reboot/shutdown dialog
`com.lingmo.FileManager`	`fm`	File operations, trash management
`org.freedesktop.Notifications`	`core/notificationd`	Desktop notification server (v1.2)
`org.freedesktop.FileManager1`	`fm`	Standard file manager D-Bus interface

Session Startup Sequence

sequenceDiagram
    participant SDDM
    participant SM as lingmo-session
    participant KWin
    participant SD as settings-daemon
    participant Shell as Desktop Shell

    SDDM->>SM: Launch session
    SM->>SM: Set env (XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Lingmo)
    SM->>SM: Import systemd user environment
    SM->>KWin: Start KWin (X11 or Wayland)
    SM->>SM: Wait for WM name (NETWM, 30s timeout)
    SM->>SD: Start settings-daemon
    SM->>SM: Start xembedsniproxy, gmenuproxy, chotkeys
    SD->>SD: Load theme, accent colors, cursor
    SD->>SM: Signal theme ready
    SM->>Shell: Start statusbar, dock, launcher, notificationd
    SM->>Shell: Load XDG autostart entries
    SM->>Shell: Desktop ready

Module Reference

Core Services (`core/`)

Custom LingmoOS components — the heart of the desktop environment.

Module	D-Bus Service	Description
`session/`	`com.lingmo.Session`	Session manager — starts KWin, sets up environment, launches desktop processes
`settings-daemon/`	`com.lingmo.Settings`	Settings daemon — theme, brightness, battery, language, mouse, touchpad, dock
`notificationd/`	`org.freedesktop.Notifications`	Full notification server (v1.2) with inline reply, persistence, deduplication
`powerman/`	`com.lingmo.PowerManager`	Power manager — idle management, lid watcher, display dimming, CPU scaling
`clipboard/`	—	Clipboard manager
`shutdown-ui/`	`com.lingmo.ShutdownUI`	Shutdown/logout/reboot QML dialog
`polkit-agent/`	—	PolicyKit authentication agent (QML)
`screen-brightness/`	—	Brightness helper (polkit-privileged)
`cpufreq/`	—	CPU frequency scaling helper (polkit-privileged)
`xembed-sni-proxy/`	—	XEmbed system tray → StatusNotifierItem proxy
`gmenuproxy/`	—	GTK/GMenu → DBusMenu proxy for global menu
`sddm-helper/`	—	SDDM display manager helper
`chotkeys/`	—	Global hotkey daemon (QHotkey library)

Desktop Shell (`shell/bc/`)

24 built-in applications and components:

Component	Description
`StatusBar/`	System status bar — tray, notifications, brightness, battery, app menu
`DockPanel/`	Application dock with X11 window monitoring
`Launcher/`	Application launcher (start menu)
`Terminal/`	Terminal emulator (qmltermwidget)
`Settings/`	System settings application
`Calculator/`	Calculator
`Texteditor/`	Text editor
`Notepad/`	Notepad
`VideoPlayer/`	Video player
`SystemMonitor/`	System monitor
`ScreenShots/`	Screenshot tool
`ScreenLocker/`	Screen locker UI
`UpdateTool/`	System updater
`Debinstaller/`	Package installer
`Desktop/`	Desktop shell component

Workspace Components (`core32/`, `shell32/`)

Modified workspace components providing the underlying panel, applet, and runner infrastructure:

core32/shell/ — Shell layout (panels, containments, layouts)
core32/applets/ — Panel applets
core32/kcms/ — System settings modules
core32/krunner/ — Application launcher/search runner
core32/ksmserver/ — Session manager
shell32/lingmo-shell/ — Desktop shell package
shell32/lingmo-framework/ — Declarative UI framework

Shared Libraries (`lib/`)

Library	Purpose	Framework
`libsys`	System integration — accounts, audio, Bluetooth, MPRIS, network, screen	Qt6, KDE Frameworks
`libsysui`	QQC2 UI component library — editor, FM, accounts, terminal, tagging	Qt6, XCB
`libshell` (Ocean)	Platform theme + widget style — blur, shadow, borderless windows	Qt5/6
`libsysqtxdg`	XDG specifications implementation (from LXQt)	Qt

Window Manager Plugins (`windows/`)

global/ — Rounded corners KWin effect (Qt6/KF6)
plugins/ — KWin scripts (launcher, squash, scale, tabbox)
next/ — Window decoration plugin based on Breeze (git submodule)

Third-Party Components

Component	Location	Description
Calamares	`installer/`	Linux distribution installer (based on Calamares)
Fcitx5	`im/fcitx5-5.1.12/`	Input method framework
Rime	`im/fcitx5-rime-5.1.10/`	Rime IME engine plugin
librime	`im/librime-1.13.1/`	Rime IME core library
xcb-imdkit	`xcb/xcb-imdkit-1.0.9/`	XCB Input Method Development Kit
sudo	`admin/sudo-1.9.16p2+lingmo3/`	Patched sudo (CVE-2025-32463 fix)
audit	`admin/audit-4.0.2/`	Linux Audit Framework

Technology Stack

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  User Interface                  │
│        QML (Qt Quick / Qt Quick Controls 2)      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                 Application Layer                │
│           Qt6 Widgets · Qt6 Quick · Qt5          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│               Framework & Libraries              │
│       KDE Frameworks · KIO · Solid · BluezQt     │
│       NetworkManager-Qt · Phonon · Polkit-Qt     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                  IPC & System                    │
│      D-Bus (Session Bus) · systemd · polkit      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│             Window System & Display              │
│   X11/XCB · Wayland · KWin · XEmbed · SNI       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                   Kernel                         │
│          Linux 6.12 LTS (amd64)                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Dependencies

Category	Components
Qt	Core, Gui, Widgets, Quick, QuickControls2, DBus, Svg, Network, Concurrent, LinguistTools, X11Extras, WaylandClient
KDE Frameworks	KIO, Solid, WindowSystem, Config, KCMUtils, ConfigWidgets, Notifications, GlobalAccel, Activities, IdleTime
X11/XCB	libxcb, xcb-randr, xcb-image, xcb-shape, xcb-xfixes, xcb-composite, xcb-icccm, xcb-ewmh
System	polkit, KWin, KScreenLocker, PipeWire (optional), Fontconfig, ICU (optional)

Building from Source

Prerequisites

Requirement	Specification
Host OS	Debian GNU/Linux 12 (Bookworm), 13 (Trixie), or later
Disk Space	> 50 GB free
CPU	Multi-core multi-threaded processor
RAM	8 GB minimum
Compiler	GCC or Clang (C++17 support required)

Quick Start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/LingmoOS/LingmoOS.git
cd LingmoOS

# Install build dependencies
sudo apt-get install -y autoconf automake build-essential cmake \
    debhelper devscripts dpkg-dev qt6-base-dev qt6-declarative-dev \
    extra-cmake-modules libkf5*-dev libkf6*-dev libxcb1-dev

# Initialize build directories
make config-pkgs

# Build all packages
make build-pkgs

# Build third-party packages
make third-party

Build Targets

Command	Description
`make`	Display help information
`make config-pkgs`	Initialize build directories and copy source trees
`make build-pkgs`	Build all packages (auto/ with lingmo-pkgbuild, default/ with dpkg-buildpackage)
`make third-party`	Build third-party packages
`make clean`	Remove all build artifacts

Build System Details

The project uses a two-tier build approach:

auto/ packages — Built with lingmo-pkgbuild (custom C++17 tool in tools/pkg_build/), which wraps dpkg-buildpackage with parallel build support and Debian repository management
default/ packages — Built directly with dpkg-buildpackage

Individual components can also be built standalone:

# Build a single component (e.g., the file manager)
cd fm
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr
make -j$(nproc)

Project Structure

LingmoOS/
├── admin/              # System administration tools (sudo, audit)
├── boot/               # Boot components (GRUB, Plymouth splash)
├── build/              # Build helper scripts
├── cmd/                # CLI utilities (ver command)
├── core/               # Core desktop services (Qt6, D-Bus)
├── core32/             # Desktop workspace infrastructure
├── daemon/             # Watchdog daemon
├── drivers/            # Kernel driver packages (Broadcom, DKMS)
├── fm/                 # File manager (Qt6, KIO)
├── guide/              # First-run setup wizard
├── im/                 # Input method (Fcitx5, Rime)
├── installer/          # System installer (Calamares-based)
├── kernel/             # Linux kernel build metadata
├── lib/                # Shared libraries (libsys, libsysui, libshell)
├── lingmo-qt-plugins/  # Qt platform theme & widget style
├── posic/              # Post-install welcome wizard
├── preic/              # Pre-install welcome screen
├── research/           # Analysis tools (gitignored)
├── service/            # KDE Framework service adaptations
├── shell/              # Desktop shell apps & components
│   ├── bc/             # Built-in components (24 apps)
│   └── cc/             # Core components (daemon, appmotor)
├── shell32/            # Desktop shell infrastructure
├── tools/              # Build tools (lingmo-pkgbuild)
├── uncore/             # Legacy/alternate core services
├── utils/              # Distribution build utilities
├── windows/            # KWin plugins (rounded corners, decorations)
├── xcb/                # XCB libraries (IMDKit)
├── Makefile            # Top-level build orchestrator
├── core_extra.build    # Additional core package builder
└── README.md

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how to get started:

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature
Commit your changes with clear messages
Push to your fork: git push origin feature/my-feature
Open a Pull Request against main

Development Guidelines

C++ Standard: C++17 (-std=gnu++17)
Qt Version: New components should target Qt6; existing Qt5 code may be maintained
D-Bus: All new services must register a well-defined D-Bus interface
Internationalization: Use Qt Linguist (.ts files) for all user-facing strings
Packaging: Every component must include debian/ packaging metadata

Support

If you find Lingmo OS useful, consider supporting the project:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LingmoLinux

Your support helps keep the project moving forward. Thank you!

License

Lingmo OS is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

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Lingmo OS

About

Features

Architecture

System Overview

D-Bus Service Registry

Session Startup Sequence

Module Reference

Core Services (`core/`)

Desktop Shell (`shell/bc/`)

Workspace Components (`core32/`, `shell32/`)

Shared Libraries (`lib/`)

Window Manager Plugins (`windows/`)

Third-Party Components

Technology Stack

Key Dependencies

Building from Source

Prerequisites

Quick Start

Build Targets

Build System Details

Project Structure

Contributing

Development Guidelines

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 249 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
.vscode		.vscode
CHANGE_LOGS		CHANGE_LOGS
admin		admin
boot		boot
build		build
cmd		cmd
core		core
core32		core32
daemon		daemon
drivers		drivers
fm		fm
guide		guide
im		im
installer		installer
kernel		kernel
lib		lib
lingmo-qt-plugins		lingmo-qt-plugins
posic		posic
preic		preic
res		res
service		service
shell		shell
shell32		shell32
tools		tools
utils		utils
windows		windows
xcb/xcb-imdkit-1.0.9		xcb/xcb-imdkit-1.0.9
.getopt.sh		.getopt.sh
.gitmessage.txt		.gitmessage.txt
.gitmodules		.gitmodules
CHANGELOG.html		CHANGELOG.html
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
TODO		TODO
change_log.txt		change_log.txt
core_extra.build		core_extra.build
repo		repo

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Lingmo OS

About

Features

Architecture

System Overview

D-Bus Service Registry

Session Startup Sequence

Module Reference

Core Services (core/)

Desktop Shell (shell/bc/)

Workspace Components (core32/, shell32/)

Shared Libraries (lib/)

Window Manager Plugins (windows/)

Third-Party Components

Technology Stack

Key Dependencies

Building from Source

Prerequisites

Quick Start

Build Targets

Build System Details

Project Structure

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Development Guidelines

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Core Services (`core/`)

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Workspace Components (`core32/`, `shell32/`)

Shared Libraries (`lib/`)

Window Manager Plugins (`windows/`)