After a year of development, Arcan announces the release of the desktop engine arcan 0.7. This engine combines a display server, multimedia framework, and a game engine to process 3D graphics. Arcan is versatile and can be used to create various graphic systems, from user interfaces for built-in applications to self-sufficient desktop renovations. The platform has already been the foundation for projects like safespaces, a three-dimensional desktop for virtual reality systems, and durden for desktop reduction. The project code is written in SI and is distributed under the BSD license, with some components under GPLV2+ and LGPL.
Arcan is not limited to specific graphic subsystems and can work on various systemic environments such as BSD, Linux, MacOS, and Windows using connected backends. The platform supports Xorg, egl-dri, Libsdl, and AGP (GL/Gles) among others. Client applications can run on top of X11, Wayland, and SDL2 under the control of the arcan display server. Key design criteria for the API include safety, performance, and suitability for debugging, with LUA proposed to simplify interface development.
Some features of Arcan include:
- A combination of composite server, display server, and window manager capabilities.
- Support for self-sufficient application operation in a separate mode.
- Built-in multimedia framework for working with graphics, sound, animation, and video capture devices.
- Multiprocessing model for connecting data source processors.
- Strict privilege division through small, unprivileged processes.
- Built-in tools for monitoring and analyzing emergency shutdowns.
- Possibility of rollback to another handler in case of errors for seamless continuation of operations.