DesktopKomposition

DesktopKomposition is a software framework and reference implementation that provides a desktop window compositing system. It is designed to render desktop environments by combining the output of individual application windows into a single scene, enabling advanced graphical effects while maintaining interactive performance. The project aims to be compatible with major Linux display servers, including X.Org (X11) and Wayland, and to integrate with a range of window managers and desktop shells.

Core functionality includes a scene-based rendering pipeline, GPU-accelerated composition, and support for effects such as transparency, shadows, blur, and window animations. By keeping windows as separate surfaces and composing them into the final framebuffer, DesktopKomposition can support live previews, desktop virtualization features, and smooth transitions between workspaces.

Architecturally, DesktopKomposition is modular and plugin-friendly. It can operate as a standalone compositor, or serve as a back end for existing window managers. Rendering backends typically use OpenGL, with experimental support for Vulkan. The system handles input routing, damage tracking, and synchronization between windows, and provides APIs for custom effects and themes.

Development and ecosystem: DesktopKomposition is distributed under an open-source license and has been explored in various open-source desktop configurations. The project emphasizes performance, accessibility, and interoperability, and its modular design encourages experimentation with new visual styles and efficiency improvements. Documentation and source code are available in the project repository.

Related topics include compositing window managers, Wayland, X11, OpenGL, and Vulkan.