I have implemented the plug-in system and have created a panel interface for other developers to code against when (if) developing a panel plug-in for DexiosDE. This project is far from a release state, not yet usable for general use, but it's getting there. I was thinking about having even the desktop and window manager be their own plug-ins, but that may have to be for after DexiosDE's release. I'll be implementing more interfaces for other plug-in uses as i think of them.
Following my previos post, after doing a lot of searching and some studying on how the X window system works, i've come across a way to make my own desktop environment without the need for IceWM. I have found a few window managers that rely on Qt4, and since i develop software with Qt4 also, i'ma start building myself one from scratch using the Qt4 library. As i understand it, a desktop environment is merely a client that communicates with the X server. The Qt4 program would be the client, of which the display manager runs on start up, and from there the program takes over. How simple!
I have started a project page for DexiosDE. You can visit the page for more information on the concept of the desktop environment. I feel the concept is most fitting for a Linux distro that is aimed towards Christian developers, but also for any developer, and Qt4 will make it possible.
LXDE is a very nice desktop environment which uses OpenBox for its window managing, and will be the default environment for Dexios. However, i have been finding it a bit lacking in some areas; though somewhat insignificant, i don't like programming in GTK. Why is that relevant? The LXPanel is coded in C using the GIMP toolkit, so in order to make extensions for it i would have to code for GTK (unless there is something i'm ignorant about). Anyone who's coded for GTK before should be able to tell you that it's not so convenient.
But why the thought for a new environment? I figured that perhaps the best way to meet my needs (wants) would be to design my own panel. Looking at the LXDE source code isn't something that is interesting or straight to the point, but i wondered if OpenBox would be the best way to go about it. Having done research on LXDE i found that LXDE did not initially have OpenBox as their window manager; they had IceWM. So i looked up IceWM and compared it with OpenBox. There's not much difference between the two except that OpenBox has a few extra features that IceWM doesn't have, of which is the cause for IceWM being just slightly faster than OpenBox. So i decided if i were to make my own desktop environment, it would be with IceWM.
Wanting a quick way to learn how to modify or create my own window manager (for X11), i searched for any tutorial, but found none. Unfortunately, this means i'ma be doing a lot of browsing through source code and asking a lot of questions so that i can make a desktop environment for Dexios Linux that is based on IceWM—which would make Dexios Linux even more unique. Building my own environment using IceWM will (or should) allow for an increase in performance and support for older machines, and perhaps a shorter overall file size for the distribution itself, as i would probably be able to get rid of GTK completely. But all of this requires time...
This blog will relate to a personal project of mine, Dexios Linux, and its progress. It will also involve general things about Linux, but mostly on how to customize Linux or a distribution. Dexios Linux will be a Christian oriented distribution geared towards developers and designers based on Ubuntu. (Don't worry, non-Christians are invited too. :P) Developers and designers include, but is not limited to, programmers, web designers, graphic designers, video editors, etc.
Originally this project was called "Trubuntu," but that is taken and made public by Trinity Community Arts first, so i chose Dexios Linux. Dexios is Greek for "right hand." In the Bible the right hand was the righteous hand, known for its deeds. "Dexios" sounds cool and fits perfectly for this distribution. Even if it were in English it still sounds nice—"Right Hand Linux." Good deeds is what is intended from this distro, deeds that will help spread Christianity. It doesn't have to be for developing and designing alone. It's perfectly fine for just a Christian environment, as it contains useful Bible study tools. Churches can hand out Dexios Linux freely to people, and i recommend that they do so.
This distribution won't use GNOME as the default desktop environment even though it's based on Ubuntu; it'll use LXDE instead. This will help save space so that i can include all the relevant programs. Some of these programs will be some Bible tools that i have developed, and probably others. I'll will also try to include programs that are perfect for churches, like a lyric display system, so that it's not limited to the home user. I hope to make this a very popular distro.