X11 Desktop Cube with OpenGL

Description

This is a simple example of an X11 _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DESKTOP window with an OpenGL context. It creates an effect of drawing graphics directly onto the desktop. It works on X11 and Wayland (via XWayland compatibility layer).

Demo

Dependencies

Ensure you have the OpenGL development libraries installed. These may be provided by Mesa or by proprietary drivers, such as those from NVIDIA or AMD. In many cases, these libraries will already be installed on your system.

Arch Linux/Manjaro:

sudo pacman -S glew libx11 libxinerama

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install libglew-dev libx11-dev libxinerama-dev

Fedora:

sudo dnf install glew-devel libX11-devel libXinerama-devel

Compilation

Use the provided Makefile to build the project and optionally install it (installation assumes you are running systemd):

git clone https://github.com/michaelknap/x11-desktop-cube-example
cd x11-desktop-cube-example
make
./build/desktop_cube
make install (optional install)
# If systemd:
systemctl --user start desktop_cube.service # OR
systemctl --user enable desktop_cube.service

Note on OpenGL Usage

For the sake of simplicity and brevity, this demo utilizes the fixed-function pipeline elements of OpenGL. Those looking to adapt or expand upon this code might consider updating to a more modern, shader-based approach.

Known Limitations

• While the demo should work with basic multi-screen setups, it might not render correctly in configurations where monitors are stacked or vary in size.
• On systems without dedicated GPU, this app may cause higher CPU usage.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.