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LDE(X)
Encyclopedia
LDE is one of the most mature LiteStep
distributions, being developed almost continuously since 1999. It made its public debut with LDE R4 in October 1999 and the LDE-X R1.0 release marked a significant change in approach during 2000. It has always been provided according to the terms of the GPL
and, currently, only runs on the Microsoft Windows
2000/XP operating systems.
LDE was originally styled to give Common Desktop Environment
users a familiar-ish environment to work with Windows NT
systems within both University and commercial facilities. These days it has evolved to be much more complex and is based around a framework comprising Microsoft Windows Script (JavaScript
) code and LiteStep-supported script code. There is also support for Lua
and Python code to be run in this framework. This wide ranging support was a deliberate aim of the developer team because it allows contributions and encourages extensions to the system. Localisation support is also provided within this framework, although it is not ideal due to limitations from the LiteStep system.
The framework simplifies common tasks with a suite of individual scripts that were designed to handle commonly occurring events. An example of a typical basis for this framework to exist is that each traditional LiteStep theme (user interface) author has historically either had to write his or her own code to save settings to files, or has, in the worst case, had to ask the user to directly edit the code. The LDE developers considered this to be an ease-of-use issue and for this and other cases, scripts were coded that eventually formed the LDE(X) Core framework.
The framework also provides support for the current in-vogue Open Theme Standard (version 2), OTS, used by the LiteStep community. This was a requested feature and also allows for such themes (user interfaces) to use parts of the LDE(X) SDK to extend their abilities when run on LDE(X).
The user interface is loaded on top of this framework and can also itself load extensions (plugins) from a common repository. Each user using LDE(X) has their own configuration tree which is located in their own OS-provided 'Documents and Settings' folder.
LDE(X) is accompanied by a programme called OpenLDE, designed to allow for forks of the main distribution to (if they wish) be quickly recognised as an LDE(X)-derivative.
The project is in hibernation status as of May 2007. The 6.4.4 and 6.4.5 updates remain beta status, and only affect one feature in the system. It is not expected that there will be future updates.
LiteStep
LiteStep is a Windows Shell replacement for Windows 9x and up, licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License .LiteStep may appeal to people who like their desktop to be visually appealing, people who like to configure their environment, Unix/Linux users, and people who find the Start...
distributions, being developed almost continuously since 1999. It made its public debut with LDE R4 in October 1999 and the LDE-X R1.0 release marked a significant change in approach during 2000. It has always been provided according to the terms of the GPL
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
and, currently, only runs on the Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
2000/XP operating systems.
LDE was originally styled to give Common Desktop Environment
Common Desktop Environment
The Common Desktop Environment is a desktop environment for Unix and OpenVMS, based on the Motif widget toolkit.- Corporate history :...
users a familiar-ish environment to work with Windows NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
systems within both University and commercial facilities. These days it has evolved to be much more complex and is based around a framework comprising Microsoft Windows Script (JavaScript
JavaScript
JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
) code and LiteStep-supported script code. There is also support for Lua
Lua programming language
Lua is a lightweight multi-paradigm programming language designed as a scripting language with extensible semantics as a primary goal. Lua has a relatively simple C API compared to other scripting languages.- History :...
and Python code to be run in this framework. This wide ranging support was a deliberate aim of the developer team because it allows contributions and encourages extensions to the system. Localisation support is also provided within this framework, although it is not ideal due to limitations from the LiteStep system.
The framework simplifies common tasks with a suite of individual scripts that were designed to handle commonly occurring events. An example of a typical basis for this framework to exist is that each traditional LiteStep theme (user interface) author has historically either had to write his or her own code to save settings to files, or has, in the worst case, had to ask the user to directly edit the code. The LDE developers considered this to be an ease-of-use issue and for this and other cases, scripts were coded that eventually formed the LDE(X) Core framework.
The framework also provides support for the current in-vogue Open Theme Standard (version 2), OTS, used by the LiteStep community. This was a requested feature and also allows for such themes (user interfaces) to use parts of the LDE(X) SDK to extend their abilities when run on LDE(X).
The user interface is loaded on top of this framework and can also itself load extensions (plugins) from a common repository. Each user using LDE(X) has their own configuration tree which is located in their own OS-provided 'Documents and Settings' folder.
LDE(X) is accompanied by a programme called OpenLDE, designed to allow for forks of the main distribution to (if they wish) be quickly recognised as an LDE(X)-derivative.
The project is in hibernation status as of May 2007. The 6.4.4 and 6.4.5 updates remain beta status, and only affect one feature in the system. It is not expected that there will be future updates.