html-desktop-background

Render an HTML/JS page as your Linux desktop wallpaper. A small C++/Qt5 app: it loads index.html in a WebKit view and parents that view to the root window, so anything you can build with HTML/CSS/JS (animations, clocks, dashboards, shaders) becomes your live background.

How it works

flowchart LR
    HTML["website/index.html (+ CSS / JS)"] --> WV["QWebView (Qt5 + WebKit)<br/>renders the page"]
    WV -->|"reparent below everything (X11 root window)"| ROOT["desktop root window"]
    ROOT --> SCREEN["you see the page as your live wallpaper"]
    APP["engine/ (the Qt5 app — qmake build)"] --- WV

Loading

The app is essentially "a browser tab, pinned underneath your desktop". Swap website/index.html for any HTML/CSS/JS you like (clock, dashboard, shader…).

Build & run

git clone https://github.com/ZZ0R0/html-desktop-background
cd html-desktop-background
sudo bash install.sh        # installs Qt5 / WebKit deps
cd ./engine
qmake && make
./project                   # renders ./index.html as the background

Edit the page in website/ to change what's displayed.

Layout

engine/      Qt5 + WebKit app (CMake/qmake): loads the page, parents it to the root window
website/     the HTML/JS/CSS rendered as the wallpaper
install.sh   installs build/runtime dependencies

Status

Works on X11. A toy/utility — a "live wallpaper" without a heavyweight desktop-widget engine.

License

MIT

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_{Part of my work — more at zz0r0.fr.}