freedesktoporg

Freedesktop.org, commonly rendered as freedesktop.org or FreeDesktop, is a collaborative project that develops open standards and software components intended to improve interoperability among free and open-source desktop environments on Unix-like systems.

The project coordinates work through working groups, mailing lists, and a collaborative wiki and repositories. It is not a commercial entity; rather, it is a community-driven effort supported by volunteers from major desktop projects such as GNOME, KDE, Xfce, and others, as well as Linux distributions and independent developers. The goal is to ensure that applications and desktop environments can work together across distributions.

Freedesktop.org maintains and publishes specifications that many Linux desktops implement. Key standards include the Desktop Entry Specification (which governs .desktop files), the XDG Base Directory Specification (defining user data locations), the MIME type registry, and the Icon Theme Specification. Other areas cover startup coordination (Startup Notification), shared interprocess communication (D-Bus interfaces), and autostart behavior. The site also serves as a central hub for related projects such as D-Bus and various components used by desktops.

Impact and governance: The standards have widespread adoption in mainstream Linux distributions and many BSDs. Development is largely consensus-driven via mailing lists and public drafts. The freedesktop.org site provides access to specifications, patch submissions, and documentation. The organization aims to reduce fragmentation by providing common interfaces that developers can rely on.