View source for Common Desktop Environment

{{Short description|Desktop environment for Unix and OpenVMS}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox software
| title = Common Desktop Environment
| logo = Common Desktop Environment logo.svg
| logo size = 100px
| screenshot = CDE Application Builder.png
| caption = CDE desktop and ''Application Builder'', a GUI development tool
| author = [[The Open Group]]
| developer = CDE Project (modern)
| released = {{Start date and age|1993|06}}
| latest release version = 2.5.2<ref>{{cite web | url=https://sourceforge.net/p/cdesktopenv/code/ci/master/tree/cde/HISTORY | title=CDE - Common Desktop Environment / Code / &#91;ca84b1&#93; /Cde/HISTORY | access-date=February 2, 2024 | archive-date=February 3, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203174257/https://sourceforge.net/p/cdesktopenv/code/ci/master/tree/cde/HISTORY | url-status=live }}</ref>
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2023|11|18}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q49417|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q49417|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| programming language = C, C++
| operating_system = [[Unix]], [[Unix-like]], [[OpenVMS]]
| size = 54.9 MB (source code)<ref name="src">{{Cite web | url = https://sourceforge.net/projects/cdesktopenv/files/src/ | title = CDE - Common Desktop Environment - Browse _src at SourceForge.net | access-date = November 18, 2021 | archive-date = November 18, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211118034216/https://sourceforge.net/projects/cdesktopenv/files/src/ | url-status = live }}</ref>
| language = English, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Spanish, Swedish
| genre = [[Desktop environment]]
| license = 2012: [[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL-2.0-or-later]]<br />Original: [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]
}}

The '''Common Desktop Environment''' ('''CDE''') is a [[desktop environment]] for [[Unix]] and [[OpenVMS]], based on the [[Motif (software)|Motif widget toolkit]]. It was part of the [[UNIX 98|UNIX 98 Workstation Product Standard]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/testing/prodstds.htm|title=Testing requirements by Product Standard|publisher=The Open Group|date=January 31, 2013|access-date=September 29, 2013|archive-date=September 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928064133/http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/testing/prodstds.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and was for a long time the Unix desktop associated with commercial Unix [[workstation]]s. It helped to influence early implementations of successor projects such as [[KDE Plasma|KDE]] and [[GNOME]], which largely replaced CDE following the turn of the century.

After a long history as [[proprietary software]], CDE was released as [[free software]] on August 6, 2012, under the [[GNU Lesser General Public License]], version 2.0 or later.<ref name="osnews2012-08-06">{{cite web
 |url = http://www.osnews.com/story/26247/CDE_released_as_open_source
 |title = CDE released as open source
 |publisher = OSNews
 |author = Thom Holwerda
 |access-date = August 6, 2012
 |archive-date = August 8, 2012
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120808184128/http://www.osnews.com/story/26247/CDE_released_as_open_source
 |url-status = live
 }}</ref> Since its release as free software, CDE has been ported to [[Linux]] and [[BSD]] derivatives.

== History ==
[[Hewlett-Packard]], [[IBM]], [[SunSoft, Inc.|SunSoft]], and [[Unix System Laboratories|USL]] announced CDE in June 1993 as a joint development within the [[Common Open Software Environment]] (COSE) initiative. Each development group contributed its own technology to CDE:<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://bubl.ac.uk/ARCHIVE/subject/computing/misc/coseup6.htm |title=UNIX Leaders Complete First Release of Specification for Common Open Software Environment Desktop |access-date=August 19, 2014 |date=June 30, 1993 |publisher=Hewlett-Packard, IBM Corporation, SunSoft, Inc., UNIX System Laboratories, X/Open Company Ltd. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207160207/http://bubl.ac.uk/ARCHIVE/subject/computing/misc/coseup6.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2012 }}</ref>

* HP contributed the primary environment for CDE, which was based on HP's [[Visual User Environment]] (VUE). HP VUE was itself derived from the [[Motif Window Manager]].
* IBM contributed its [[Common User Access]] model from [[OS/2]]'s [[Workplace Shell]].
* Sun contributed its [[ToolTalk]] application interaction framework and a port of its [[DeskSet]] productivity tools, including mail and calendar clients, from its [[OpenWindows]] environment.
* USL provided desktop manager components and scalable systems technologies from [[UNIX System V]].

After its release, HP endorsed CDE as the new standard desktop for Unix, and provided documentation and software for migrating HP VUE customizations to CDE.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.hpl.hp.com/hpjournal/96apr/apr96a4.pdf | title=Migrating HP VUE Desktop Customizations to CDE | first1=Molly | last1=Joy | journal=Hewlett-Packard Journal | volume=47 | issue=2 | date=August 1996 | access-date=August 19, 2014 | pages=29–37 | archive-date=August 21, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821022858/http://www.hpl.hp.com/hpjournal/96apr/apr96a4.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 1994 CDE became the responsibility of the "new OSF", a merger of the [[Open Software Foundation]] and [[Unix International]];<ref>{{cite press release
 |publisher = AT&T Global Information Systems, Digital Equipment Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM Corporation, SunSoft Incorporated, et al.
 |date = March 23, 1994
 |url = https://groups.google.com/group/comp.unix.osf.misc/msg/4ebc895ff10823f1
 |title = Leading Vendors Unify to Accelerate Open Systems
 |access-date = May 15, 2008
 |archive-date = March 13, 2007
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070313005228/http://groups.google.com/group/comp.unix.osf.misc/msg/4ebc895ff10823f1
 |url-status = live
 }}</ref>
in September 1995, the merger of Motif and CDE into a single project, CDE/Motif, was announced.<ref>{{cite press release
 |publisher = Open Software Foundation
 |date = September 7, 1995
 |url = https://groups.google.com/group/cu.motif-talk/msg/9935c0cb91e254fd
 |title = OSF Announces Formal Launch of CDE/Motif Project
 |access-date = May 15, 2008
 |archive-date = February 18, 2012
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120218131945/http://groups.google.com/group/cu.motif-talk/msg/9935c0cb91e254fd
 |url-status = live
 }}</ref> OSF became part of the newly formed [[Open Group]] in 1996.<ref>{{cite press release
 |url = http://www.rdg.opengroup.org/public/news/feb96/merge.htm
 |title = X/Open and OSF Join to Create The Open Group
 |access-date = May 16, 2008
 |date = February 14, 1996
 |publisher = [[X/Open]] Company Ltd. [[Open Software Foundation]]
 |url-status = dead
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080724204142/http://www.rdg.opengroup.org/public/news/feb96/merge.htm
 |archive-date = July 24, 2008
 }}</ref>

In February 1997, the Open Group released their last major version of CDE, version 2.1.<ref>TOG Press Release: [http://www.opengroup.org/desktop/Press_Releases/cde2.1ga.htm The Open Group Announces Common Desktop Environment 2.1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054210/http://www.opengroup.org/desktop/Press_Releases/cde2.1ga.htm |date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref>

[[Red Hat Linux]] was the only Linux distribution that proprietary CDE was ported to. In 1997, Red Hat began offering a version of CDE licensed from [[TriTeal Corporation]]. In 1998, [[Xi Graphics]], a company specializing in the X Windowing System, offered a version of CDE bundled with Red Hat Linux, called ''Xi Graphics maXimum cde/OS''. These were phased out, and Red Hat moved to the [[GNOME]] desktop.

Until about 2000, users of Unix desktops regarded CDE as the ''[[de facto]]'' standard, but at that time, other desktop environments such as GNOME and [[K Desktop Environment 2]] were quickly becoming mature, and became widespread on [[Linux]] systems.

In 2001, [[Sun Microsystems]] announced that they would phase out CDE as the standard desktop environment in [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]] in favor of GNOME. Solaris 10, released in early 2005, includes both CDE and the GNOME-based [[Java Desktop System]]. The [[OpenSolaris]] project, begun around the same time, did not include CDE, and had no intent to make Solaris CDE available as open-source.<ref>{{cite web
 |url = http://hub.opensolaris.org/bin/view/Main/conslist
 |title = Consolidations|date= October 26, 2009
 |access-date = April 19, 2015
 |work = OpenSolaris Web site
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120729120326/http://hub.opensolaris.org/bin/view/Main/conslist
 |archive-date = July 29, 2012
}}</ref> The original release of Solaris 11 in November 2011 only contained GNOME as standard desktop, though some CDE libraries, such as Motif and ToolTalk, remained for binary compatibility but Oracle Solaris 11.4, released in August 2018, removed support for the CDE runtime environment and background services.<ref>{{cite web
  |url = https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/end-of-notices/eonsolaris11-392732.html#11.4
  |title = End of Features (EOF) for Oracle Solaris 11.4
  |access-date = 2018-11-23
  |work = Oracle Technology Network
  |archive-date = November 24, 2018
  |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181124060740/https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/end-of-notices/eonsolaris11-392732.html#11.4
  |url-status = live
  }}</ref>

=== Systems that provided proprietary CDE ===
* [[IBM AIX]]
* [[Digital UNIX]]
* [[HP-UX]]: from version 10.10, released in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.unixguide.net/hp/faq/3.3.shtml|title=HP-UX, FAQ: What is the release history of HP-UX?|website=unixguide.net|access-date=February 8, 2012|archive-date=March 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321214703/http://unixguide.net/hp/faq/3.3.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[IRIX]]: for a short time CDE was an alternative to [[IRIX Interactive Desktop]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/tpl/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?coll=0650&db=relnotes&fname=%2Fusr%2Frelnotes%2Fcde |title=IRIX 6.5 Release Notes for CDE |access-date=July 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119183005/http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/tpl/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?coll=0650&db=relnotes&fname=%2Fusr%2Frelnotes%2Fcde |archive-date=January 19, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[OpenVMS]]: available in OpenVMS Alpha V7.1 and onwards,<ref name="vaxmacro-release">{{cite web|url= http://www.vaxmacro.de/vvo.html|title= (Open)VMS(/ VAX), Version overview|access-date= October 20, 2020|archive-date= October 22, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201022122158/http://www.vaxmacro.de/vvo.html|url-status= live}}</ref> referred to as the "DECWindows Motif New Desktop"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://h30266.www3.hpe.com/odl/vax/office/dwmot126/vmsdw126/GettingStarted/getting_started.html|title=Getting Started With the New Desktop|access-date=October 20, 2020|archive-date=December 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204205549/http://h30266.www3.hpe.com/odl/vax/office/dwmot126/vmsdw126/GettingStarted/getting_started.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]]: available starting with 2.3, standard in 2.6 to 10.
* [[Tru64 UNIX]]
* [[UnixWare]]
* [[UXP/DS]]
* [[Red Hat Linux]]: Two versions ported by Triteal<ref>{{cite magazine|title=It's Here! Red Hat's TriTeal CDE, Full-Featured Unix Desktop For Linux|url=http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1210662|magazine=EE Times|access-date=October 30, 2015|archive-date=May 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525132648/https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1210662|url-status=live}}</ref> and Xi Graphics<ref>{{cite web|title=DeXtop(TM) CDE Makes Big Splash in Linux Industry; Xi Graphics Inc. Releases Standardized GUI for Linux|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dextoptm-cde-makes-big-splash-in-linux-industry-xi-graphics-inc-releases-standardized-gui-for-linux-72233677.html|publisher=PRNewswire|access-date=October 30, 2015|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054255/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dextoptm-cde-makes-big-splash-in-linux-industry-xi-graphics-inc-releases-standardized-gui-for-linux-72233677.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== License history ==
From its launch until 2012, CDE was proprietary software.

Motif, the toolkit on which CDE is built, was released by The Open Group in 2000 as "Open Motif," under a "revenue sharing" license. That license did not meet either the [[Open Source Definition|open source]] or [[Free software licence|free software]] definitions. The Open Group had wished to make Motif open source, but did not succeed doing so at that time.<ref>{{cite web
 |url = http://www.opengroup.org/openmotif/faq.html
 |title = Open Motif Frequently Asked Questions
 |access-date = November 30, 2007
 |date = July 13, 2004
 |publisher = The Open Group
 |archive-date = January 30, 2012
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120130181327/http://www.opengroup.org/openmotif/faq.html
 |url-status = live
 }}</ref>

=== Release under the GNU LGPL ===
In 2006, a [[petition]] was created asking The Open Group to release the source code for CDE and Motif under a free license.<ref>{{cite web
 |url = http://www.marutan.net/cde/
 |title = Petition to Open Source CDE and Motif
 |access-date = November 30, 2007
 |author = Peter Howkins
 |archive-date = January 10, 2008
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080110015238/http://www.marutan.net/cde/
 |url-status = live
 }}</ref> On August 6, 2012, CDE was released under the [[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL-2.0-or-later]] license.<ref name=osnews2012-08-06/><ref>{{cite web
 |url = http://blog.opengroup.org/2012/09/27/how-the-operating-system-got-graphical/
 |title = How the Operating System Got Graphical
 |publisher = The Open Group
 |author = Dave Lounsbury
 |date = September 27, 2012
 |access-date = September 27, 2012
 |archive-date = November 27, 2012
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121127031754/http://blog.opengroup.org/2012/09/27/how-the-operating-system-got-graphical/
 |url-status = live
 }}</ref> The CDE source code was then released to [[SourceForge]].

The free software project OpenCDE had been started in 2010 to reproduce the [[look and feel]], organization, and feature set of CDE.<ref>
 {{cite web
 |url = http://www.opencde.org
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140909225404/http://opencde.org/
 |url-status = dead
 |archive-date = September 9, 2014
 |title = OpenCDE
 |access-date = February 14, 2011
 |author = kpedersen
 }}</ref> In August 2012, when CDE was released as free software, OpenCDE was officially deprecated in favor of CDE.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://devio.us/~kpedersen/forums/viewtopic.php?id=1293|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124230739/http://devio.us/~kpedersen/forums/viewtopic.php?id=1293|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 24, 2012|title=CDE Open Sourced!|author=woomia|work=OpenCDE Forums|date=August 6, 2012|quote=With this, OpenCDE is officially deprecated. Feel free to make a fork of it if you wish.}}</ref>

On October 23, 2012, the Motif widget toolkit was also released under the [[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL-2.1-or-later]] license.<ref>{{cite web|title = ICS MotifZone|url = http://motif.ics.com/|date = October 2012|access-date = November 2, 2017|archive-date = October 5, 2012|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121005160251/http://motif.ics.com/|url-status = live}}</ref> This allowed CDE to become a completely free and open source desktop environment.

Shortly after CDE was released as free software, a Linux [[live CD]] was created based on [[Debian]] 6 with CDE 2.2.0c pre-installed, called CDEbian.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.vecchiomago.net/index.php?mod=read&id=1359614669| title=VecchiomagoPuntoNet: CDEbian 0.7| date=January 31, 2013| access-date=January 6, 2016| archive-date=March 4, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044107/http://www.vecchiomago.net/index.php?mod=read&id=1359614669| url-status=live}}</ref> The live CD has since been discontinued.

The Debian-based Linux distribution [[SparkyLinux]]<ref>{{cite web| url=https://sparkylinux.org/cde-common-desktop-environment/| title=SparkyLinux: CDE – Common Desktop Environment| date=September 5, 2016| access-date=July 14, 2018| archive-date=July 14, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714135316/https://sparkylinux.org/cde-common-desktop-environment/| url-status=live}}</ref> offers binary packages of CDE that can be installed with APT. As of March 2023, CDE is also included in the NuTyX GNU/Linux distribution which offers an ISO download image with it,<ref>{{cite web |title=NuTyX GNU/Linux Downloads |url=https://www.nutyx.org/en/downloads |website=NuTyX GNU/Linux |access-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301234552/https://www.nutyx.org/en/downloads |archive-date=1 March 2023 |language=English |url-status=live}}</ref> in FreeBSD<ref>{{cite web |title=FreshPorts -- x11/cde: Common Desktop Environment |url=https://www.freshports.org/x11/cde/ |website=FreshPorts |access-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204175403/https://www.freshports.org/x11/cde/ |archive-date=4 December 2022 |language=English |url-status=live}}</ref> and in source form in [[pkgsrc]]<ref>{{cite web |title=pkgsrc.se The NetBSD package collection |url=https://pkgsrc.se/wm/cde |website=pkgsrc.se |access-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302190127/https://pkgsrc.se/wm/cde |archive-date=2 March 2023 |language=English |url-status=live}}</ref> which is the default package manager of NetBSD.

== Development under CDE project ==
In March 2014, the first stable release of CDE, version 2.2.1, was made since its release as free software.<ref>{{cite mailing list |last=Trulson |first=Jon |title=CDE 2.2.1 released |publisher=cdesktopenv-devel |date=March 1, 2014 |url=https://sourceforge.net/p/cdesktopenv/mailman/message/32043063/ |access-date=March 5, 2014 |archive-date=March 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305093049/http://sourceforge.net/p/cdesktopenv/mailman/message/32043063/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Beginning with version 2.2.2, released in July 2014, CDE is able to compile under FreeBSD 10 with the default [[Clang]] [[compiler]].<ref>{{cite mailing list |last=Trulson |first=Jon |title=CDE 2.2.2 released |publisher=cdesktopenv-devel |date=July 27, 2014 |url=https://sourceforge.net/p/cdesktopenv/mailman/message/32654428/ |access-date=July 27, 2014 |archive-date=August 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801032559/http://sourceforge.net/p/cdesktopenv/mailman/message/32654428/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since version 2.3.0, released in July 2018, CDE uses TIRPC on Linux, so that the portmapper rpcbind does not need to be run in insecure mode. It does not use Xprint anymore, and can be compiled on the BSDs without installing first a custom version of Motif. Multihead display support with [[Xinerama]] has been improved.

Since its release as free software, CDE has been ported to:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sourceforge.net/p/cdesktopenv/wiki/Home/|title=Common Desktop Environment: Wiki|access-date=January 6, 2015|archive-date=December 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216095839/http://sourceforge.net/p/cdesktopenv/wiki/Home/|url-status=live}}</ref>

* [[Linux distribution]]s including:
** [[Debian]]
** [[Red Hat Enterprise Linux]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/dcantrel/cde/ |title=Red Hat package |access-date=April 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106195256/https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/dcantrel/cde/ |archive-date=November 6, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
** [[Slackware Linux]]
** [[Ubuntu]]
** [[Arch Linux]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Common Desktop Environment - ArchWiki |url=https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Common_Desktop_Environment |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=wiki.archlinux.org |archive-date=November 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241125204327/https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Common_Desktop_Environment |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[FreeBSD]]
* [[NetBSD]]
* [[OpenBSD]]<ref>{{Citation |title=CVS commit for CDE version 2.5.2 to OpenBSD ports|last=Antoine|first=Jacoutot|date=2025-07-28|url=https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-ports-cvs&m=175370608029725&w=2}}</ref>
* [[OpenIndiana]]
* Solaris 11 ([[x86-64]])

Future project goals of the CDE project include:

* Increased portability to more Linux, BSD, and Unix platforms.
* Further [[Internationalization and localization|internationalization]] into other languages.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:CDE 2012 on Linux.png|CDE File manager
File:CDE Manual Pages.png|Reading [[Linux kernel]] [[man pages]] in CDE
File:HP-HP9000-C360-Workstation 01.jpg|[[HP 9000]] C360 displaying the CDE login manager, ''[[dtlogin]]''
File:HP-HP9000-B180-Workstation 37.jpg|[[HP 9000]] model B180L running [[HP-UX]] and CDE
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [[dtlogin]]
* [[IRIX Interactive Desktop]]
* [[Motif (software)|Motif]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [http://www.opengroup.org/cde/ Open Group&nbsp;– CDE]
* {{github|NsCDE}} Modern and functional CDE desktop based on FVWM.

{{X desktop environments and window managers}}
{{Open Group standards}}

[[Category:1993 software]]
[[Category:Desktop environments]]
[[Category:Formerly proprietary software]]
[[Category:Open Group standards]]
[[Category:OpenVMS]]
[[Category:Software that uses Motif (software)]]
[[Category:Sun Microsystems software]]
[[Category:X window managers]]