Editing Freedesktop.org (section)

==Hosted projects==
freedesktop.org provides hosting for a number of relevant projects.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freedesktop.org/wiki/FreedesktopProjects |title=FreedesktopProjects |website=freedesktop.org |access-date=2013-09-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Software |title=Software |website=freedesktop.org |access-date=2013-09-22}}</ref> These include:

===Windowing system and graphics===
<!-- PLEASE RESPECT ALPHABETICAL ORDER -->
Software related to [[windowing system]]s and graphics in general
* [[Cairo (graphics)|Cairo]], a vector graphics library with cross-device output support
* [[Direct Rendering Infrastructure]] (DRI), a [[Linux kernel interfaces#Kernel–user space API|Linux API]] to access the graphics hardware, used by [[X Window System|X11]], [[Wayland compositor]]s, [[Mesa 3D]], etc.
* [[Glamor (software)|Glamor]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/Glamor/ |title=Glamor |date=17 May 2013 |website=freedesktop.org |access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> a 2D graphics common driver for [[display server|X server]] on graphics chipsets which have support for [[OpenGL]]/[[EGL (API)|EGL]]/[[Generic buffer management|GBM]] APIs
* [[Mesa 3D]], an implementation of several graphics APIs such as [[Vulkan]] and [[OpenGL]]
* Pixman,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pixman.org/|title=Pixman|work=pixman.org}}</ref> a low-level software library for pixel manipulation, providing features such as image compositing and trapezoid rasterization; users include the [[cairo (graphics)|cairo graphics library]] and the [[X.Org Server]]
* [[Poppler (software)|Poppler]], a [[PDF]] rendering library
* [[Video Acceleration API]]
* [[Wayland (protocol)|Wayland]], a protocol to replace X11; features: no [[frame tearing|tearing]], lag, redrawing or [[flicker (screen)|flicker]]
* [[X.Org Server]], the official reference implementation of the X11 protocol
* [[XCB]], an [[Xlib]] replacement
* [[Xephyr]], a [[display server]]
* wlroots, a modular [[Wayland compositor]] library

===Other===
<!-- PLEASE RESPECT ALPHABETICAL ORDER -->
* [[D-Bus]], a message bus akin to [[Desktop communication protocol|DCOP]] (KDE 3) and [[Bonobo (GNOME)|Bonobo]] (GNOME 2)
* Elektra, a library for reading and writing configuration
*[[FreeType]], a text rendering library
* [[fontconfig]], a library for font discovery, name substitution, etc.
* fprint, a library for consumer fingerprint reader devices
* {{anchor|geoclue}}Geoclue, a [[geoinformation service]]<ref name="geoclue">{{Cite web |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/diy-it-guy/diy-get-top-quality-open-source-security-tools-in-one-distro/ |title=DIY: Get top-quality open source security tools in one distro |last=Wallen |first=Jack |date=6 December 2011 |website=News, Tips, and Advice for Technology Professionals |access-date=2019-06-21 |archive-date=2021-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418175608/https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/diy-it-guy/diy-get-top-quality-open-source-security-tools-in-one-distro/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[GStreamer]], a [[cross-platform]] [[multimedia framework]]
* GTK-Qt engine, a [[GTK+#GTK+ 2|GTK+ 2]] engine which uses [[Qt (software)|Qt]] to draw the [[graphical control element]]s, providing the [[look and feel]] of KDE applications to GTK+2 applications
* [[HAL (software)|HAL]] (Hardware Abstraction Layer), a consistent cross-[[operating system]] layer; deprecated and replaced by [[udev]]
* [[kmscon]], a userspace virtual console to replace the Linux console; uses the [[KMS driver]] and supports [[Unicode]]
* [[luit]], a tool used by [[terminal emulator]]s
* [[libinput]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/wayland-devel/2014-June/015589.html |title=[ANNOUNCE] libinput 0.4.0 |work=freedesktop.org |date=2014-06-24}}</ref> a library to handle input devices in [[Wayland compositor]]s and to provide a generic X.Org input driver. It provides device detection, device handling, input device event processing and abstraction to minimize the amount of custom input code compositors need to provide the common set of functionality that users expect.
* [[PulseAudio]], a sound server frontend providing software mixing, network audio, and per application volume control
* [[PipeWire]], a low-latency server for handling [[Sandbox (computer security)|sandbox-friendly]] audio and video [[Stream (computing)|streams]] on [[Linux]], which provides an implementation of PulseAudio, [[JACK Audio Connection Kit|JACK]], and [[Advanced Linux Sound Architecture|ALSA]] as well as secure methods for [[Screenshot|screenshotting]] and [[Screencast|screencasting]] on [[Wayland (display server protocol)|Wayland compositors]]
* [[systemd]], a comprehensive [[init]] framework to start and manage services and sessions meant to replace older init models
* [[Xft]], anti-aliased fonts using the [[FreeType]] library, rather than the old X core fonts
* [[pkg-config]], a helper program used to generate flags for compiler and linker to include necessary libraries
Also, [[Avahi (software)|Avahi]] (a free [[Zeroconf]] implementation) started as a fd.o project but has since become a separate project.

=== Base Directory Specification ===
{{see also|Filesystem Hierarchy Standard}}
''XDG Base Directory Specification'' (XDG BDS) introduces a range of variables where user-specific files used by programs should be found.<ref name=":0">[https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html XDG Base Directory Specification], freedesktop.org, accessed: 2021-05-15.</ref> Many tools and applications utilize these variables by default.<ref>{{Cite web|title=XDG Base Directory - ArchWiki|url=https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/XDG_Base_Directory|access-date=2021-10-08|website=wiki.archlinux.org}}</ref> 

==== User directories ====
Besides the variables mentioned below, XDG BDS also specifies that users' local binary files may be installed into {{code| $HOME/.local/bin}}. Systems compliant with the spec are expected to make this directory available in their [[Command-line interface|CLI]]'s {{code|PATH}} environment variable.<ref name=":0" />
;{{Code|XDG_DATA_HOME}}
: For user application's own data files
: Default to {{Code|$HOME/.local/share}}
;{{Code|XDG_CONFIG_HOME}}
: For user's app configuration files
: Default to {{Code|$HOME/.config}}
;{{Code|XDG_STATE_HOME}}
: For user-specific app session data, which should be stored for future reuse
: Default to {{Code|$HOME/.local/state}}
: May include logs, recently used files, application-specific information (e.g. window layout, views, opened files, undo history, etc.), akin to session data that should be stored by app by request of system session manager, like [[X session manager]]
;{{Code|XDG_CACHE_HOME}}
: For user-specific apps cache files
: Default to {{code|$HOME/.cache}}
;{{Code|XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}}
: For user-specific app runtime files like sockets which must not survive reboot and full logout/login cycles

==== System directories ====
;{{Code|XDG_DATA_DIRS}}
: Colon-separated list of preference-ordered paths to search for data files in
: Default to {{Code|/usr/local/share/:/usr/share/}}
;{{Code|XDG_CONFIG_DIRS}}
: The same as above but for config files
: Default to {{Code|/etc/xdg/}}