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FR-AI / ANALYSISWhy it is worth attention
It demonstrates a complete, Swift-based desktop stack from compositor to user apps, running real third-party Linux applications while staying in early development.
Who it is for
- Swift developers interested in system-level Linux development
- Flutter enthusiasts curious about an engine port to Swift
- Linux desktop tinkerers seeking a fresh architecture
- Researchers exploring alternative desktop frameworks
Use cases
- Evaluating Swift as a systems language for desktop environments
- Running a daily driver with Wayland and X11 app compatibility (with known gaps)
- Developing and testing first-party apps using the FlutterSwift framework
- Experimenting with a minimal, DRM-based compositor and session management
Strengths
- Comprehensive Wayland protocol support (xdg-shell, dmabuf, fractional-scale, many more)
- Runs a wide range of third‑party apps (Chrome, VS Code, Slack, Blender, etc.)
- Well-documented build, run, and packaging workflows with a .deb installer
- Innovative Swift port of Flutter's framework, removing the Dart VM
Considerations
- Still early alpha (v0.2) with missing features (screen lock, notifications, display settings)
- Scaling effectively pinned to 2.0; fractional scaling produces blurry text
- Portal incomplete (no Inhibit, ScreenCast, Camera, Print) and no backend fallback
- No CI, limited hardware testing (AMD and virtio‑gpu only), and no screen saver
README quick start
Starling
A new Linux desktop environment, whose shell, compositor, framework, and apps are written in Swift (the framework is a full port of Flutter's Dart framework to Swift — no Dart VM). It brings its own Wayland compositor and its own X11 server, so it runs native Wayland clients and X11 apps alike. Runs on the Flutter engine's C core via the sibling repo starling-engine.
sdk/ the Flutter→Swift framework port (SwiftPM package "FlutterSwift")
shell/ the desktop shell: compositor (C Wayland server), window manager,
dock, spaces, portals — SwiftPM package "DesktopShellApp"
apps/ first-party apps (Settings, Files, Terminal, …), one SwiftPM package each
build/ packaging: the Ubuntu .deb, session files, app-run/app-install tools,
vendored flutter_assets
docs/ porting guides and design notes
Get started: Install Starling · User Guide · Build from source
Status
Early development — version 0.2. The desktop boots as a real session, runs
its own compositor and apps, and installs from a .deb on a stock Ubuntu
26.04. It is also the work of one person and a few months, so expect rough
edges, missing pieces, and bugs. Nothing here is load-bearing for anyone yet,
and interfaces change without notice.
What follows is deliberately specific about what is and is not done, because "a desktop environment" invites assumptions that would be wrong.
What works
| Area | State |
|---|---|
| Session | Boots through the normal login path — gdm3 → gdm-wayland-session → /usr/libexec/starling-session → DesktopShellApp --drm. Unprivileged: DRM master and input come from logind via libseat, not from running as root. |
| Display | DRM/KMS modeset, GBM/EGL, hardware cursor, flip-driven frame pacing, multi-output layout. Tested on AMD (Radeon 780M) and on virtio-gpu/virgl in a VM. |
| Compositor | ~5,700 lines of C implementing xdg-shell, linux-dmabuf (zero-copy import), viewporter, fractional-scale-v1, pointer-constraints, relative-pointer, text-input-v3, presentation-time, primary-selection, idle-inhibit, cursor-shape-v1, xdg-decoration, xdg-activation, xdg-output, wlr-data-control. |
| Window management | Floating and tiling (master-and-stack) behind one swit |
Description
Starling — a new Linux desktop environment: Swift shell, its own compositor, a Flutter-to-Swift framework port, and first-party apps
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