Enlightenment (software)

Last updated

Enlightenment
Original author(s) Carsten Haitzler
Developer(s) Enlightenment development team
Initial release1997;27 years ago (1997)
Stable release
0.26.0 [1]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 23 December 2023
Repository
Written in C (EFL)
Operating system Unix-like
Type
License BSD-2-Clause [2]
Website www.enlightenment.org

Enlightenment, also known simply as E, is a compositing window manager for the X Window System. Since version 20, Enlightenment also supports Wayland, [3] and is shipped with some linux distributions such as Bodhi Linux and Pentoo. [4]

Contents

Enlightenment includes functions to provide a graphical shell and can be used in conjunction with programs written for GNOME or KDE. When used together with the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries (EFL), Enlightenment can refer to an entire desktop environment. [5]

History

The first version of Enlightenment was released by Carsten Haitzler in 1997. [6] [7] Originally, it was just a window manager before the addition of the EFL. [8]

Bodhi Linux was built around the Enlightenment 17 desktop, but forked it to create the Moksha desktop.

Elive Linux also used a fork of E17 as its main desktop environment until 2019, when the 3.7 series was released. It also features E16 and has future plans to integrate the new E26 version.

The current version as of August 2023 is E25. [9]

E16

The release of E17 meant a fundamental redesign of the enlightenment manager. As a result smaller part of the community decided to stay with the E16 codebase and continue independent development of this version, simply naming the manager "e16" while releasing under independent version scheme. It reached the 1.0 milestone in 2009 and is still actively developed (1.0.29 as of 2023). [10]

Reception

A 2011 review of E16 found it was highly customisable, featuring per-window configurability, support for virtual desktops with much larger screenspace than monitor size, and that "nearly everything can be done with the keyboard." While the appearance was praised, the desktop environment was criticised as being somewhat unstable due to bugs at the time. While E16 could be used as a window manager for GNOME or KDE, the review found they had poor compatibility. [11]

A 2014 review of E17 found the design to be fast, touchscreen friendly and have a nice appearance, but was annoyed by the small selection area to resize windows. The appearance of the default terminal with the desktop environment, called Terminology, was also praised and the author personally liked the desktop left and right click menus. [12]

A 2017 review found E18 to have lightweight performance, remarking a similar appearance to Mac OS, but also mentioning a steep learning curve due to the desktop left and right click menus. [8]

A 2020 review praised Enlightenment for its high number of keyboard shortcuts, and that it was lightweight enough to run well on older hardware, with low idle CPU and RAM usage. However, it criticised the desktop left and right click menus for having too much complexity. [13]

Release history

Major releases [14]
VersionCode nameRelease dateNotes
pre-alphaEnlightenment Alpha1October 1996 [15]
0.13.2DR1318 January 1998 [16]
0.14.0DR1418 July 1998 [17] [18] [19]
0.15.0DR1512 March 1999 [20]
0.16DR1627 October 1999 [21] Still maintained as of 2023. Preferred by many people, especially as a "retro" desktop. [22]
0.17DR1721 December 2012 [23] Major rewrite version. Was forked to create the Moksha desktop.
0.18DR1822 December 2013 [24]
0.19DR1915 September 2014 [25]
0.20DR201 December 2015 [26]
0.21DR211 June 2016 [27]
0.22DR2222 November 2017 [28]
0.23DR 0.2324 August 2019 [29]
0.24DR 0.2417 May 2020 [30]
0.25DR 0.2516 December 2021 [31] [32]
0.26DR 0.2623 December 2023 [33] Current release.

See also

Related Research Articles

In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphical shell. The desktop environment was seen mostly on personal computers until the rise of mobile computing. Desktop GUIs help the user to easily access and edit files, while they usually do not provide access to all of the features found in the underlying operating system. Instead, the traditional command-line interface (CLI) is still used when full control over the operating system is required.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xfce</span> Desktop environment

Xfce or XFCE is a free and open-source desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.

freedesktop.org (fd.o), formerly X Desktop Group (XDG), 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Window Maker</span> Window manager

Window Maker is a free and open-source window manager for the X Window System, allowing graphical applications to be run on Unix-like operating-systems. It is designed to emulate NeXTSTEP's GUI as an OpenStep-compatible environment. Window Maker is part of the GNU Project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Light-weight Linux distribution</span> Operating system with low resource requirements

A light-weight Linux distribution is one that uses lower memory and/or has less processor-speed requirements than a more "feature-rich" Linux distribution. The lower demands on hardware ideally result in a more responsive machine, and/or allow devices with fewer system resources to be used productively. The lower memory and/or processor-speed requirements are achieved by avoiding software bloat, i.e. by leaving out features that are perceived to have little or no practical use or advantage, or for which there is no or low demand.

In computing, the Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual is a standard protocol for the X Window System. It specifies conventions for clients of a common X server about selections and cut buffers, communication with the window manager and session manager, manipulation of shared resources, and color characterization.

A desktop environment is a collection of software designed to give functionality and a certain look and feel to an operating system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LXDE</span> Lightweight desktop environment for Linux and BSD

LXDE is a free desktop environment with comparatively low resource requirements. This makes it especially suitable for use on older or resource-constrained personal computers such as netbooks or system on a chip computers.

gOS (operating system) Ubuntu-based Linux distribution

gOS or "good OS" was an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution created by Good OS LLC, a Los Angeles-based corporation. Its CIO David Liu described that after meeting Enlightenment and open source people, he realized that his dream to bring Web 2.0 applications into mainstream use could be achieved by creating a Linux distribution that made it easy for users to access Google and Web 2.0 applications. David Liu went on to create the Chinese Twitter clone called Wozai (我在), leaving gOS officially defunct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OpenGEU</span> Free computer operating system

OpenGEU was a free computer operating system based upon the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, which in turn is based on Debian. OpenGEU combined the strengths and ease of use of GNOME desktop environment with the lightweight, and graphical eye candy features of the Enlightenment window manager into a unique and user-friendly desktop. While OpenGEU was originally derived from Ubuntu, the design of the user gave it a significantly different appearance to the user, with original art themes, software and tools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granular Linux</span> Linux distribution

Granular, or Granular Linux, is a Linux distribution targeted at the common desktop users. Granular is based on PCLinuxOS and comes as an installable live CD. The CD version of Granular features two desktop environments – KDE and a development version of Enlightenment. Where KDE is a full-featured desktop environment, Enlightenment is a lightweight desktop shell which is markedly faster than KDE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GTK</span> Free and open-source cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces

GTK is a free software cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, allowing both free and proprietary software to use it. It is one of the most popular toolkits for the Wayland and X11 windowing systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNOME</span> Desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-like systems

GNOME, originally an acronym for GNU Network Object Model Environment, is a free and open-source desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNOME Shell</span> Graphical shell of the GNOME desktop environment

GNOME Shell is the graphical shell of the GNOME desktop environment starting with version 3, which was released on April 6, 2011. It provides basic functions like launching applications and switching between windows, and is also a widget engine. GNOME Shell replaced GNOME Panel and some ancillary components of GNOME 2.

Fedora Linux is a popular Linux distribution developed by the Fedora Project. Fedora attempts to maintain a six-month release schedule, offering new versions in May and November, although some releases have experienced minor delays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodhi Linux</span> Linux distribution

Bodhi Linux is a light-weight Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that uses an Enlightenment DR17-based fork called Moksha as its desktop environment. The philosophy for the distribution is to provide a minimal base system so that users can install the software they want. In turn, the distribution only includes software that is essential to most users, such as a file manager (Thunar), a terminal emulator (Terminology), and a web browser. To install additional software, Bodhi Linux developers maintain a browser-based app store that uses apturl to install programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Desktop Environment</span> Desktop environment for Unix-like operating systems

The Trinity Desktop Environment (TDE) is a complete software desktop environment designed for Linux and Unix-like operating systems, intended for computer users preferring a traditional desktop model, and is free/libre software. Born as a fork of KDE 3.5 in 2010, it was originally created by Timothy Pearson, who had coordinated Kubuntu remixes featuring KDE 3.5 after Kubuntu switched to KDE Plasma 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simple Desktop Display Manager</span> Software for Unix-like operating systems

Simple Desktop Display Manager (SDDM) is a display manager for the X11 and Wayland windowing systems. SDDM was written from scratch in C++11 and supports theming via QML.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNOME 1</span> First major release of GNOME

GNOME 1 is the first major release of the GNOME desktop environment. Its primary goal was to provide a consistent user-friendly environment in conjunction with the X Window System. It was also a modern and free and open source software alternative to older desktop environments such as the Common Desktop Environment (CDE), but also to the K Desktop Environment (KDE). Each desktop environment was built-upon then proprietary-licensed widget toolkits, whereas GNOME's goal from the onset, was to be freely-licensed, and utilize the GTK toolkit instead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elive</span> Linux distribution developed by Samuel F. Baggen

Elive is a non-commercial Linux distribution based on Debian. It uses the Enlightenment desktop environment, offering a live DVD and a persistent USB image for 32- and 64-bit computers with Intel or AMD x86 processors.

References

  1. ↑ "Enlightenment 0.26.0 Release". 23 December 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  2. ↑ "COPYING - core/enlightenment.git". Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  3. ↑ "Enlightenment DR 0.20.0 Release". Enlightenment.org. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Zinoune, M. (10 July 2012). "Enlightenment distributions that are still alive!". Unixmen. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Portal:Enlightenment". en.opensuse.org. 2012-12-21. Archived from the original on 2018-02-12. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
  6. ↑ "The windows manager Enlightenment – MVPS.net Blog" . Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Enlightenment DR16". Enlightenment.
  8. 1 2 Germain, Jack M. (16 May 2014). "Enlightenment Linux: It's Not What You Think". LinuxInsider. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "News". www.enlightenment.org. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Enlightenment E16" . Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  11. ↑ Marco Fioretti (3 July 2011). "Best lightweight window managers for Linux". TechRadar. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "The desktop-a-week review: Enlightenment (E17)". Network World. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Perkins, John (1 October 2020). "Enlightenment Desktop Review: A Beautiful, Lightweight but Different Desktop Manager". Make Tech Easier. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Legacy sources". Archived from the original on 29 October 2020.
  15. ↑ "enlightenment-1.0alpha-1.i386.rpm". CDrom Archive.
  16. ↑ "New E Already Released". Slashdot News. 19 January 1998.
  17. ↑ "Enlightenment 0.14 release". Slashdot. 18 July 1998.
  18. ↑ ""E news"". Archived from the original on 28 April 1999. Retrieved 19 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ↑ "Official Word on Enlightenment DR14". Slashdot. 16 July 1998.
  20. ↑ "Enlightenment 0.15". Slashdot. 12 March 1999.
  21. ↑ ""E news"". Archived from the original on 4 March 2000. Retrieved 19 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. ↑ "Enlightenment E16". www.enlightenment.org. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  23. ↑ "After 12 years of Development, E17 Is Out". Slashdot. 21 December 2012.
  24. ↑ "Enlightenment DR 0.18: Improved Compositing, Wayland Support". slashdot. 22 December 2013.
  25. ↑ "v0.19.0". git release.
  26. ↑ "Enlightenment E20 Released With Full Wayland Support". slashdot. December 2015.
  27. ↑ "v0.21.0". git release.
  28. ↑ "v0.22.0". git release.
  29. ↑ "v0.23.0". git release.
  30. ↑ "v0.24.0". git release.
  31. ↑ "Enlightenment 0.25.0 Release". 16 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  32. ↑ "v0.25.0". git release.
  33. ↑ "Enlightenment 0.26.0 Release". 23 December 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.