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 A screenshot of the ROX desktop | |
| Final release | 2.11[1]  / 9 October 2011 |
|---|---|
| Repository | github |
| Written in | C,Python,GTK |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Type | Desktop environment |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | rox |
TheROX Desktop is a discontinued[2] graphicaldesktop environment for theX Window System. It is based on theROX-Filer which is a drag and dropspatial file manager. It isfree software released under theGNU General Public License. The environment was inspired by the user interface ofRISC OS (not to be confused withRISC/os).[3] The name "ROX" comes from "RISC OS onX". Programs can be installed or removed easily using Zero Install, a decentralized software installation system.
The project was started by Thomas Leonard as a student atUniversity of Southampton in 1999[4][5] and was still led by him in 2012.
The ROX Desktop is adesktop environment based on the ROX-Filerfile manager. Files are loaded by applications by usingdrag and drop from the filer to the application, and saved by dragging back to the filer. Applications areexecutable directories, and are thus alsoinstalled (copied), uninstalled (deleted), and run through the filer interface. ROX has a strong link with Zero Install, a method of identifying and executing programs via aURL, to make software installation completely automatic.
The desktop uses theGTK toolkit, like theGNOME andXfce desktops. The design focuses on small, simple programs using drag-and-drop to move data between them. For example, a user might load a compressed file into a spreadsheet from the web by dragging the data from the web browser to the archiver, and from there into the spreadsheet. A program would be installed in the same way, by dragging the archive from the web to the archiver, and from there to the applications directory in the filer.
Drag-and-drop saving allows the user to save the text file to any directory they please, or directly to another application, such as the archiver on the panel.
 Screenshot of ROX-Filer | |
| Original author(s) | Thomas Leonard |
|---|---|
| Repository | |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Type | File manager |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Website | rox |
ROX-Filer is a graphicalspatial file manager for theX Window System. It can be used on its own as a file manager, or can be used as part of ROX Desktop. It is the file manager provided by default in certainLinux distributions such asPuppy Linux andDyne:bolic, and was used inXubuntu untilThunar became stable.
ROX-Filer is built using theGTK+toolkit. Available under the terms of theGPL-2.0-or-later license, ROX-Filer is free software.[6]
 Zero Install ready to run a downloaded program | |
| Developer(s) | Thomas Leonard |
|---|---|
| Stable release | |
| Repository | |
| Written in | OCaml |
| Operating system | Linux,Unix,macOS,Windows |
| Type | Package manager |
| License | LGPLv2.1 |
| Website | 0install |
Zero Install (or0install) is a multi-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS) system for running applications that allows publishing applications in a decentralized way (without usingcentral repositories, directly on the project websites).[8] Unlike the xcopy mechanism[original research?], 0install retains the advantages of repositories:shared libraries, automatic updates, validation ofdigital signatures.[9]
Zero Install uses the metadata (sometimes called thefeed format) written in XML. Like with xcopy deployment,[original research?] each application gets its own directory and there are no side effects inflicted upon the OS, so no administrative rights are needed and different versions of the same application can be runside-by-side without special modifications.[9]
To run anapplication, the user needs to use a launcher in ROX-Filer, that will ask the system to run an application with the given URL in the script inside the launcher. At the first time launching it, the URL will be used to download the program and save it in the system. The next times the program is launched, the system will not download it again. This is the reason why it is called Zero Install: the launcher tries to run the program, and not install it.[10][non-primary source needed]
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