Orange

A wlroots compositor for Linux with a macOS-like desktop UI drawn in C.

The committed assets/ directory is wallpaper-only. Shell, Dock, desktop, menu, and status icons are resolved from the configured freedesktop icon theme.

Build

PKG_CONFIG_PATH=.local/wlroots-0.20/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:.local/wlroots-0.20/share/pkgconfig \
  .venv-wlroots-build/bin/meson setup build
PKG_CONFIG_PATH=.local/wlroots-0.20/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:.local/wlroots-0.20/share/pkgconfig \
  ninja -C build

Orange targets wlroots 0.20 through the versioned wlroots-0.20 pkg-config dependency. The older unversioned wlroots package is not a supported build target.

Prerequisites

Install your GPU drivers before installing Orange and GDM. Without a working DRM driver, GDM will fail to start and wlroots cannot create a renderer. See the Void Linux video drivers docs for Intel/AMD/NVIDIA setup.

Void Package Install

The repo includes a local Void Linux srcpkgs/orange overlay. To add it to a void-packages checkout, build the package, and install Orange from the local repository:

git clone https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages.git
cd void-packages
./xbps-src binary-bootstrap

ORANGE_REPO=/path/to/orange-wlroots
cp -a "$ORANGE_REPO/packaging/void/srcpkgs/orange" srcpkgs/orange
rm -rf srcpkgs/orange/files/src
mkdir -p srcpkgs/orange/files/src
tar -C "$ORANGE_REPO" \
  --exclude .git \
  --exclude build \
  -cf - . | tar -C srcpkgs/orange/files/src -xf -

./xbps-src -1 pkg orange
xbps-rindex -a hostdir/binpkgs/*.xbps
sudo xbps-install -S -R "$PWD/hostdir/binpkgs" orange

The installed package provides the Orange Wayland session at /usr/share/wayland-sessions/orange.desktop, installs the default config and wallpapers, pulls Ghostty as the default terminal, and starts Orange through orange-session.

Void does not enable runit services just because a package was installed, but the Orange package handles all configuration automatically. Install and reboot:

sudo xbps-install -S -R /path/to/hostdir/binpkgs orange
sudo reboot

For a full VM image build using the same package overlay, run scripts/build-void-vm.sh and then scripts/run-void-vm.sh.

Run

From a Wayland-capable session or a TTY with seat permissions:

WLR_RENDERER=vulkan ./build/orange

WLR_RENDERER=vulkan requires a backend that can hand wlroots a DRM render node. Headless validation uses Pixman because wlroots cannot create its Vulkan renderer without DRM.

On WSLg, run it nested inside the existing WSLg Wayland session:

cd ~/orange-wlroots
WLR_BACKENDS=wayland WLR_RENDERER=pixman ./build/orange --config orange.conf

When this command logs running on Wayland display wayland-N, startup succeeded. The compositor is then serving that nested display and keeps running until you stop it.

Do not force WLR_RENDERER=vulkan on WSLg unless vulkaninfo works and the nested Wayland backend exposes a DRM render node. If wlroots logs Cannot create Vulkan renderer: no DRM FD available, use Pixman for WSLg. That error means renderer setup failed before Orange can fall back.

For automated/headless validation:

WLR_BACKENDS=headless WLR_RENDERER=pixman ./build/orange --headless --once

For a custom-size startup smoke test that exits on its own:

WLR_BACKENDS=headless WLR_RENDERER=pixman ./build/orange --headless --once --width 1440 --height 900 --config /tmp/orange-custom.conf

Wallpaper

Wallpaper is sourced from GNOME GSettings (org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri / picture-uri-dark), matching the system background set in GNOME Settings. If GNOME is not installed or no wallpaper is configured, a procedural fallback is drawn.

Icons

Icons are looked up by name from the configured installed icon theme using freedesktop theme directories, inherited themes, and hicolor fallback. Orange checks standard user/system icon locations such as $HOME/.local/share/icons, $HOME/.icons, and $XDG_DATA_DIRS/icons.

Desktop Entries

Right-side desktop shortcuts are parsed from XDG .desktop files installed on the system. The shell scans $XDG_DATA_HOME/applications/ and each path in $XDG_DATA_DIRS/applications/ for .desktop entries. Dock items are configured via dock_apps in orange.conf (comma-separated desktop file IDs).

Settings And Themes

The compositor reloads orange.conf once per second. GNOME Settings integration through Orange's session services is the active settings path for the 0.20 build. The older in-tree GTK Settings and About utilities are currently disabled in Meson while they are rewritten, so build/orange-settings and build/orange-about are not expected build outputs.

Theme and cursor settings are still stored in orange.conf; cursor settings write cursor_theme= and cursor_size=.

Desktop icons can be dragged; custom positions are persisted in orange.conf as desktop_icon_N_position=x,y. Right-click desktop icons or Dock items to open their shell context menus. Right-click Calendar or Weather widgets for widget-specific edit, size, and remove actions.

Click the date/time text to open the right-edge Notification Center overlay. Click it again, click the desktop, or press Escape to close it. Wi-Fi, sound, and battery open item-specific status menus; search opens a centered draggable Spotlight-style glass pill with adjacent browse-mode buttons for Applications, Files, Actions, and Clipboard. Typing expands it into the launcher panel and shows unified results for apps, desktop files, built-in actions, and web search. Control Center opens quick controls. The Edit Widgets button opens Orange Settings for widget preferences.

Theme names are config-driven:

icon_theme=MacTahoe
gtk_theme_light=MacTahoe-Light
gtk_theme_dark=MacTahoe-Dark

Any installed GTK/icon theme can be used by changing those values in orange.conf or through the Settings dropdowns. MacTahoe is only the current test default.

Install or develop GTK/icon themes outside this repository, then set the theme names in orange.conf. The compositor exports GTK_THEME, GTK_ICON_THEME, ORANGE_APPEARANCE, Wayland toolkit backends, and Chromium/Electron Ozone Wayland hints before launching non-game child clients. Chromium, Chrome, Brave, and Vivaldi commands receive scoped Ozone flags for Wayland. Desktop entries categorized as Game are not forced onto toolkit Wayland backends because many games still expect an Xorg path; when Orange is started from a nested session, game entries may keep inherited DISPLAY and session-bus state until Orange grows an Xwayland host. Orange does not inject the legacy GTK AppMenu module.

To render a native-size PNG for manual inspection:

./build/orange-render-shell /tmp/orange-shell.png

The render tool defaults to the native 2880x1800 shell size. Use foreground-only output to measure shell geometry without wallpaper differences:

./build/orange-render-shell --foreground-only /tmp/orange-foreground.png

Notification Center and context menus can be rendered directly for glass/text checks:

./build/orange-render-shell --notification-center /tmp/orange-notification-center.png

./build/orange-render-shell --foreground-only --context-menu status-wifi /tmp/orange-status-wifi.png

./build/orange-render-shell --foreground-only --context-menu desktop --context-x 1440 --context-y 900 /tmp/orange-menu.png