Text-based Desktop Environment

Building from source

Unix

Required System Dependencies

• C++20 compiler: GCC 12+ or Clang 16+
• CMake (minimum version v3.22)
• Git

Optional Dependencies

The following libraries are required but will be automatically downloaded and built via CMake if they are missing or outdated in your system:

• FreeType (minimum version v2.13.2)
• HarfBuzz (minimum version v12.2.0)
• LunaSVG (minimum version v3.5.0)
• Lua (minimum version v5.4)
• stb

Examples of installing system dependencies:

OS	Dependency installation command	Notes
Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)	sudo apt install git cmake build-essential
FreeBSD	pkg install cmake git	Best results with GCC compiler and 6GB of RAM. Clang requires ~11Gb of RAM: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/issues/133901
macOS	brew install cmake git

Build Steps

Run the following commands in your terminal:

git clone https://github.com/directvt/vtm.git
cd vtm

# Specify the required compiler if needed:
# export CXX=/usr/bin/g++-12

cmake . -B bin
cmake --build bin
sudo cmake --install bin
vtm

Installation Note:

• By default, files are installed to system directories (e.g., /usr/local/bin/). If you want to install vtm to a user directory without using sudo (e.g., $HOME/.local/bin/), specify the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX flag during the configuration step. Ensure that this directory is added to your $PATH:

cmake . -B bin -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=\$HOME/.local
cmake --build bin
cmake --install bin

Windows

Build-time Dependencies

• Visual Studio 2022 with the following workloads enabled:
  • Desktop Development with C++
  • C++ CMake tools for Windows
  • Git for Windows

Build Steps

• Launch Visual Studio and clone the repository: https://github.com/directvt/vtm.
• Wait for the CMake generation and dependencies initialization to complete (this may take several minutes).
• Select your target build configuration (e.g., 1.Win-x64-Debug or PROD-Win-x64) from the top toolbar configuration dropdown.
• Open the Build menu and click Build All.