LightDM

In today's article we will explore the fascinating world of LightDM, a topic that has captured the attention of experts and hobbyists alike. From its origin to its impact on contemporary society, LightDM has played a fundamental role in various aspects of daily life. Through detailed and insightful analysis, we will seek to unravel its many facets and understand the importance LightDM has in today's world. Prepare to embark on a journey of discovery as we delve into the mysteries and wonders that LightDM has to offer.

LightDM
Original author(s)Robert Ancell
Developer(s)
  • Robert Ancell
  • David Edmundson
Initial releaseSeptember 10, 2010 (2010-09-10)
Stable release
1.32.0[1] Edit this on Wikidata / 18 July 2022 (18 July 2022)
Repository
Written inC
Operating systemLinux, OpenIndiana
Size1 MB
Available in>50 languages[2][3][4]
TypeX display manager
LicenseGPL-3.0-or-later
Websitegithub.com/CanonicalLtd/lightdm

LightDM is a free and open-source X display manager that aims to be lightweight, fast, extensible and multi-desktop.[5] It can use various front-ends to draw the user interface,[6] also called Greeters.[7] It also supports Wayland.[8][9]

LightDM is the default display manager for Edubuntu, Xubuntu and Mythbuntu since the 11.10 release,[10][11][12] for Lubuntu since the 12.04 release[13] until 16.10,[14] for Kubuntu beginning with 12.10[15] until 15.04[16] for Linux Mint[17] and Antergos.

Features

Features include:

  • Codebase with very few dependencies
  • Supports different display technologies (X11 and Wayland through Mir)
  • Supports remote login (incoming – XDMCP, VNC, outgoing – XDMCP, pluggable)
  • Comprehensive test suite
  • Standards-compliance (PAM, logind, etc.)
  • Well-defined interface between the server and user interface
  • Cross-desktop (greeters can be written in any toolkit)
  • Well-defined greeter API allowing multiple GUIs
  • Support for all display manager use cases, with plug-ins where appropriate

LightDM has a simpler code base than GDM and does not load any GNOME libraries to work, but at the cost of some features that the user may or may not need.[18][19]

Available greeters

LightDM Greeters in active development
Name Key feature(s) Version Website
Arctica Greeter Greeter for Arctica,[20] fork of Unity Greeter 0.99.1.4[21] github.com/ArcticaProject/arctica-greeter
Deepin Greeter Greeter for Deepin 5.0.0[22] github.com/linuxdeepin/dde-session-ui
GTK Greeter Greeter for Xubuntu and former GTK reference implementation,[23] former Lubuntu default,[13] Xubuntu default[11] 2.0.8[24] github.com/Xubuntu/lightdm-gtk-greeter
Mini Greeter Minimalist, single-user. INI configuration 0.5.1[25] github.com/prikhi/lightdm-mini-greeter
Pantheon Greeter Greeter for elementary OS[26] 7.0.0[27] github.com/elementary/greeter
Qt5 Greeter Greeter for Qt 5 0.11.1[28] github.com/rezso/lightdm-qt5-greeter
Slick Greeter Greeter for Linux Mint, fork of Unity Greeter 1.4.1[29] github.com/linuxmint/slick-greeter
WebEngine Greeter QtWebEngine-based, C++ rewrite of Web Greeter 3.0 — github.com/matijaskala/lightdm-webengine-greeter
Web Greeter QtWebEngine-based, continuing Antergos Web Greeter 3.0,[30] allows to create web based themes 3.4.1[31]

github.com/JezerM/web-greeter

WebKit2 Greeter Easy theming[6] 2.0.0[32] gitlab.com/tearch-linux/applications-and-tools/lightdm-webkit2-greeter
Dormant LightDM Greeters
Name Key feature(s) Version Website
Antergos Web Greeter Default greeter for Antergos.[33] Uses HTML/Javascript for theming[34] 2.2.5[35] github.com/Antergos/web-greeter
Crowd Greeter Demonstration for an OpenGL-based Greeter[36][37] 0.0.2[38] launchpad.net/crowd-greeter
GTK Builder Greeter An alternative implementation from LXDE for GTK based on GtkBuilder featuring WYSIWYG theme editing with Glade Interface Designer. 0.2.0[39] lxde.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=lxde%2Fldm-gtk-builder-greeter%3Ba%3Dsummary
KDE Greeter Plasma 4 integration,[40][41] Kubuntu default[15] until superseded by SDDM[16] 0.3.2.2[42] github.com/KDE/lightdm
LXQt Greeter Qt-only Greeter for LXQt desktop (formerly Razor Greeter[43]) until superseded by SDDM[44] 0.7 github.com/surlykke/qt-lightdm-greeter
Qt Greeter Reference implementation in Qt — launchpad.net/lightdm-qt-greeter
Unity Greeter Former Ubuntu default[6] 15.04.3[45] launchpad.net/unity-greeter

See also

References

  1. ^ "Release 1.32.0". 18 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Translations: Light Display Manager". Translations.launchpad.net. 2011-05-13. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  3. ^ "Translations: LightDM GTK Greeter". Translations.launchpad.net. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  4. ^ "Translations: Unity Greeter". Translations.launchpad.net. 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  5. ^ The Light Display Manager (LightDM), retrieved 17 May 2011
  6. ^ a b c Ubuntu 11.10 To Switch From GDM To LightDM, 12 May 2011, retrieved 18 May 2011
  7. ^ Fischer, Matt (2012-02-07). "» So You Want to Write a LightDM Greeter… Matt Fischer's Blog". Mattfischer.com. Archived from the original on 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  8. ^ "Readme Manual of LightDM". GitHub. 3 May 2022.
  9. ^ "LightDM". Arch Linux Wiki. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  10. ^ Ubuntu 11.10 ReleaseNotes, Canonical, retrieved 28 May 2012
  11. ^ a b Xubuntu 11.10 Release Notes, Canonical, retrieved 17 December 2012
  12. ^ "BionicBeaver/ReleaseNotes - Ubuntu Wiki".
  13. ^ a b Lubuntu 12.04 ReleaseNotes, Canonical, retrieved 14 Jun 2012
  14. ^ "Discussion about greeter (Log in) application for 16.10 Qt versi... : Blueprints : Lubuntu Next". 11 May 2014.
  15. ^ a b RFC] Merging LightDM into KDE Workspaces, mail.kde.org, 20 August 2012, retrieved 2013-05-29
  16. ^ a b Bhartiya, Swapnil. "Kubuntu 15.04 With Plasma 5.3 - A Totally Different Kubuntu - Linux.com". Linux.com - The source for Linux Information. Archived from the original on 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  17. ^ New features in Linux Mint 18.2 Cinnamon Archived 2020-11-12 at the Wayback Machine (go down or search for LightDM), retrieved 2017-07-02
  18. ^ Ubuntu adopts LightDM, login screens to get more exciting, Geek.com, 12 May 2011, archived from the original on 16 October 2012, retrieved 18 May 2011
  19. ^ LightDM, or: an examination of a misunderstanding of the problem, 12 May 2011, retrieved 14 July 2015
  20. ^ "The Arctica Project". arctica-project.org. The Arctica Project. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  21. ^ "Arctica Greeter". Github.
  22. ^ "dde-session-ui". Github.
  23. ^ LightDM GTK Greeter in Launchpad, Launchpad.net, 29 November 2011, retrieved 2012-12-16
  24. ^ "GTK LightDM Greeter for Xubuntu". Github.
  25. ^ Mini Greeter Releases, GitHub, retrieved 2022-03-13
  26. ^ Hello, Luna Beta 1 | elementary, Elementaryos.org, 2012-11-14, retrieved 2013-05-29
  27. ^ "LightDM Greeter for Pantheon". Github.
  28. ^ "LightDM Greeter for Qt 5". Github.
  29. ^ Slick Greeter Releases, GitHub, retrieved 2020-09-20
  30. ^ Antergos Web Greeter 3.0, GitHub, retrieved 2021-07-10
  31. ^ Web Greeter 3.4.1 release, GitHub, retrieved 2021-04-10
  32. ^ LightDM Webkit Greeter, GitLab, 11 January 2016, retrieved 2020-09-20
  33. ^ "Antergos | Your Linux. Always Fresh. Never Frozen". Antergos Linux. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  34. ^ "lightdm-webkit2-greeter - master". doclets.io. Archived from the original on 2016-10-07. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  35. ^ "Antergos/web-greeter". GitHub. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  36. ^ ~lightdm-team/crowd-greeter/trunk (2011-07-27), ~lightdm-team/crowd-greeter/trunk : contents of NEWS at revision 33, Bazaar.launchpad.net, retrieved 2013-05-29
  37. ^ LightDM Crowd Greeter, YouTube, 2011-09-07, retrieved 2013-05-29
  38. ^ Crowd Greeter : "LightDM Development Team" team, Launchpad.net, 2011-09-08, retrieved 2013-05-29
  39. ^ Status of LXDE Components, LXDE Team, archived from the original on 17 October 2019, retrieved 17 December 2012
  40. ^ Edmundson, David (2012-07-21), LightDM-KDE 0.2.0, Sharpley.org.uk, archived from the original on 2012-12-24, retrieved 2012-08-23
  41. ^ Rationales, Static.davidedmundson.co.uk, retrieved 2013-05-29
  42. ^ LightDM-KDE File Archive, KDE, archived from the original on 27 October 2017, retrieved 6 June 2013
  43. ^ Razor-qt, razorqt-lightdm-greeter, Github.com, retrieved 2012-08-23
  44. ^ Leclanche, Jerome (2013-10-30). "[Lxde-list] CALL FOR TESTERS: LXQt now available for testing". sourceforge.net. SourceForge. Retrieved 2016-05-08. ... For a display manager, SDDM is recommended ...
  45. ^ Unity Greeter, Launchpad.net, 31 May 2011, retrieved 2012-12-16
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