SDDM: A Lightweight QML-Based Display Manager

[phoronix]

Phoronix: SDDM: A Lightweight QML-Based Display Manager

A Phoronix reader has announced his work on SDDM within the Phoronix Forums this weekend. SDDM is a very lightweight display management that takes advantage of Qt's QML...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTI3ODc

[cynyr]

how does this compare to SLim? SLim has even fewer dependencies; X11, libjpeg, libpng, freetype.

[Ericg]

how does this compare to SLim? SLim has even fewer dependencies; X11, libjpeg, libpng, freetype.

Yes but arent slim themes harder to write and get the same level of functionality in comparison to lightDM? The goal of lightdm was have a clean, modern, standardized core and then the greeter frontends could all be distro-specific with no problem. Want an update to lightdm? Rebase off mainline, slap your greeter right back on and youve got all the same benefits all the other distros do but still your branding.

[curaga]

Why yes, clearly *shaders* were the thing missing from login managers...

[aavci]

how does this compare to SLim? SLim has even fewer dependencies; X11, libjpeg, libpng, freetype.

Dependency-wise SLiM is slimmer. Codebase-wise SDDM is much smaller, 713 vs 3651 lines of code (sloccount figures).

[aavci]

Yes but arent slim themes harder to write and get the same level of functionality in comparison to lightDM? The goal of lightdm was have a clean, modern, standardized core and then the greeter frontends could all be distro-specific with no problem. Want an update to lightdm? Rebase off mainline, slap your greeter right back on and youve got all the same benefits all the other distros do but still your branding.

Slim themes are harder to write and somewhat restricted. In SDDM you write your theme however you want, just call the needed functions for authorization/shutdown/reboot when necessary, just like using a library. So you dont have to worry about the restrictions of the backend when designing your themes. Animations, transitions and all other stuff are bonus points.

Regarding LightDM, lets say I just wanted to scratch an itch and I am simply sharing it now.

[aavci]

Why yes, clearly *shaders* were the thing missing from login managers...

What is wrong with adding the ability to use shaders? If most of us the window managers that are composited and gpu-accelerated, why shouldn't the display manager be? Why should we restrict ourselves and theme designers? Display manager is the one first things a user sees it has to be attractive, IMHO.

I would start right from QML2 and require OpenGL (ES), if I could use Qt5 easily in my distro of choice (Arch). If you dont want eye-candy or have a hardware that doesn't support hardware acceleration, you are free not to use it. Thanks.

[uid313]

I think a login manager should authenticate via:
* Bluetooth and NFC security tokens and smartphones
* USB sticks, dongles and security tokens
* Smart card
* Fingerprint
* LDAP and Active Directory

[Ericg]

I think a login manager should authenticate via:
* Bluetooth and NFC security tokens and smartphones
* USB sticks, dongles and security tokens
* Smart card
* Fingerprint
* LDAP and Active Directory

Things that will need to be added to LightDM if they arent already, eventually. Especially the last 2

[aavci]

I think a login manager should authenticate via:
* Bluetooth and NFC security tokens and smartphones
* USB sticks, dongles and security tokens
* Smart card
* Fingerprint
* LDAP and Active Directory

These items probably should be implemented at PAM level and by writing a theme that instructs the user, it should be doable.