debian: initial packaging work

On macOS, listing / can silently fail due to SIP. We try to default to ~ if there's no choice.

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ on:
     inputs:
       version:
         description: Release Version
-        default: v2.1.7
+        default: v2.1.8
         required: true
 
 jobs:

changelog.md

@@ -1,5 +1,92 @@
 # Changes Log
 
+## [2.1.8] - 2025-06-09
+
+This release will be the first to use [SDL3](https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL3/FrontPage),
+which should fix a bunch of issues (and might cause others).
+This release also uses LTO to achieve some performance gain.
+
+### Features
+
+* Port to SDL3
+  ([#1756](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1756))
+
+* Add SDL App Metadata
+  ([#2068](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2068))
+
+* Warn against malformed patterns and disable them
+  ([#2029](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2029))
+
+* Update Windows setup files
+  ([#1988](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1988))
+
+* build.sh: add LTO support
+  ([#2049](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2049))
+
+* Highlight .rockspec files
+  ([#2080](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2080))
+
+* Make font loading function return proper error messages
+  ([#1919](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1919)
+
+* Defer bitmap rendering when possible
+  ([#1856](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1856))
+
+### Fixes
+
+* Update CSS plugin to support more units
+  ([#2010](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2010))
+
+* Add __tostring method to all objects
+  ([#1534](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1534))
+
+* Use current char to determine col in DocView:get_x_offset_col
+  ([#1946](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1946))
+
+* Allow / and \ as PATHSEP on Windows when fuzzy matching files
+  ([#1992](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1992))
+
+* Use correct charmap and glyphmap sizes
+  ([#1999](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1999))
+
+* Add digit separators for C++ syntax highlighting
+  ([#2026](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2026))
+
+* Prevent enumerating the directory tree in system.list_dir
+  ([#2059](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2059))
+
+* Fixed dirmonitor excessively high CPU usage on Linux
+  ([#2044](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2044))
+
+* Use correct charmap and glyphmap sizes
+  ([#1999](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1999))
+
+* Make project folder detection more robust against unexpected errors
+  ([b5317c5](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/commit/b5317c531837a5d4031dfdae5a52ad969735a22a))
+
+### Other changes
+
+* Replace memory functions with SDL equivalent
+  ([#2067](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2067))
+
+* Add postrelease workflow to update docs and release winget packages
+  ([#1983](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1983))
+
+* Move dependency resolving into source file
+  ([#1937](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1937))
+
+* Improve WASM support
+  ([#1779](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/1779))
+
+* Update CI Script to fix MSYS2
+  ([#2028](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2028))
+
+* Fix missing includes
+  ([#2017](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2017))
+
+* Add manifest file to allow installing Lite XL with lpm
+  ([#2043](https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/pull/2043))
+
 ## [2.1.7] - 2024-12-05
 
 This release fixes a bug related to scaling on macOS,

data/core/init.lua

@@ -56,12 +56,13 @@ end
 
 function core.set_project_dir(new_dir, change_project_fn)
   local chdir_ok = pcall(system.chdir, new_dir)
-  if chdir_ok then
+  local list_dir_ok = system.list_dir(new_dir)
+  if chdir_ok and list_dir_ok then
     if change_project_fn then change_project_fn() end
     core.project_dir = common.normalize_volume(new_dir)
     core.project_directories = {}
   end
-  return chdir_ok
+  return chdir_ok and list_dir_ok ~= nil
 end
 
 
@@ -762,27 +763,41 @@ function core.init()
   -- Load user module, plugins and project module
   local got_user_error, got_project_error = not core.load_user_directory()
 
-  local project_dir_abs = system.absolute_path(project_dir)
-  -- We prevent set_project_dir below to effectively add and scan the directory because the
-  -- project module and its ignore files is not yet loaded.
-  local set_project_ok = project_dir_abs and core.set_project_dir(project_dir_abs)
-  if set_project_ok then
+  -- try to load a bunch of directories
+  local try_project_dirs = {project_dir}
+  if project_dir ~= "."     then table.insert(try_project_dirs, ".") end
+  -- if cwd is not accessible for some reason (SIP on apple when launched from Finder), try home folder
+  if PLATFORM == "Mac OS X" then table.insert(try_project_dirs, string.format("/Users/%s", os.getenv("USER"))) end
+  if PLATFORM == "Windows"  then table.insert(try_project_dirs, string.format("%s\\%s", os.getenv("HOMEDRIVE"), os.getenv("HOMEPATH"))) end
+  -- FIXME: better POSIX detection
+  if os.getenv("USER")      then table.insert(try_project_dirs, string.format("/home/%s", os.getenv("USER"))) end
+  -- discouraged since it can be blocked in sandboxed runtimes (SIP)
+  table.insert(try_project_dirs, os.getenv("HOMEDRIVE") and (os.getenv("HOMEDRIVE").."\\") or "/")
+  -- discouraged since it could be unreadable or embedded in the exe
+  table.insert(try_project_dirs, DATADIR)
+
+  local project_dir_abs
+  local function load_project_module()
     got_project_error = not core.load_project_module()
-    if project_dir_explicit then
-      update_recents_project("add", project_dir_abs)
-    end
-  else
-    if not project_dir_explicit then
-      update_recents_project("remove", project_dir)
-    end
-    project_dir_abs = system.absolute_path(".")
-    if not core.set_project_dir(project_dir_abs, function()
-      got_project_error = not core.load_project_module()
-    end) then
-      system.show_fatal_error("Lite XL internal error", "cannot set project directory to cwd")
-      os.exit(1)
+  end
+  for _, p in ipairs(try_project_dirs) do
+    local abs_dir = system.absolute_path(p)
+    if abs_dir and core.set_project_dir(abs_dir, load_project_module) then
+      if p == project_dir and project_dir_explicit then
+        update_recents_project("add", abs_dir)
+      end
+      project_dir_abs = abs_dir
+      break
+    else
+      if p == project_dir and not project_dir_explicit then
+        update_recents_project("remove", p)
+      end
     end
   end
+  if not project_dir_abs then
+    system.show_fatal_error("Error", "Please restart Lite XL with a readable project directory.")
+    os.exit(1)
+  end
 
   -- Load core plugins after user ones to let the user override them
   local plugins_success, plugins_refuse_list = core.load_plugins()

debian/.gitignore

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+debian/files
+debian/.debhelper/
+debian/*.log
+debian/lite-xl/
+debian/debhelper-build-stamp
+debian/*.substvars

debian/changelog

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+lite-xl (2.1.8-2) stonking; urgency=medium
+
+  * Drop the ":native" qualifiers on the meson/ninja-build Build-Depends.
+
+ -- Valentin Haudiquet <valentin.haudiquet@canonical.com>  Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:40:00 +0200
+
+lite-xl (2.1.8-1) stonking; urgency=medium
+
+  * Initial release.
+
+ -- Valentin Haudiquet <valentin.haudiquet@canonical.com>  Wed, 16 Sep 2026 13:56:53 +0200

debian/control

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+Source: lite-xl
+Section: utils
+Priority: optional
+Maintainer: Valentin Haudiquet <valentin.haudiquet@canonical.com>
+Rules-Requires-Root: no
+Standards-Version: 4.7.2
+Build-Depends: debhelper-compat (= 13),
+ meson,
+ ninja-build,
+ libsdl3-dev,
+ libfreetype-dev,
+ libpcre2-dev,
+ liblua5.4-dev
+Homepage: https://lite-xl.com/
+
+Package: lite-xl
+Architecture: any
+Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
+Description: A lightweight text editor written in Lua
+ A lightweight, fast and extensible text editor written in Lua, designed to be
+ highly customizable and to have a small footprint. It is written in C and Lua
+ and uses the SDL library for cross-platform rendering.

debian/copyright

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
+Upstream-Name: lite-xl
+Source: https://lite-xl.com/
+
+Files: *
+Copyright: 2026 Valentin Haudiquet <valentin.haudiquet@canonical.com>
+License: MIT
+ The package is distributed under the terms of the MIT license. The full license text is available at <https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT.html>.
+
+License: MIT
+ The package is distributed under the terms of the MIT license. The full license text is available at <https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT.html>.

debian/rules

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/usr/bin/make -f
+%:
+	dh $@ --buildsystem=meson
+
+# Use the system Lua from the declared Build-Depends (liblua5.4-dev) instead of
+# the bundled lua subproject wrap, so the build works offline and exercises the
+# declared dependency (including for cross-builds). freetype2 and pcre2 are also
+# resolved from their -dev packages via pkg-config, so no wraps are fetched.
+# Note: do NOT pass -Dwrap_mode here; some build drivers (e.g. pkh) already pass
+# --wrap-mode on the meson command line, and Meson errors out if the same option
+# is given in both forms.
+override_dh_auto_configure:
+	dh_auto_configure -- -Duse_system_lua=true

debian/source/format

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3.0 (quilt)

debian/source/local-options

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+single-debian-patch

meson.build

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 project('lite-xl',
     ['c'],
-    version : '2.1.7',
+    version : '2.1.8',
     license : 'MIT',
     meson_version : '>= 0.56',
     default_options : [

resources/linux/org.lite_xl.lite_xl.appdata.xml

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
   <screenshots>
     <screenshot type="default">
       <caption>The editor window</caption>
-      <image>https://lite-xl.com/assets/img/editor.png</image>
+      <image>https://lite-xl.com/assets/screenshots/theme-default.png</image>
     </screenshot>
   </screenshots>
 
@@ -29,6 +29,6 @@
   </provides>
 
   <releases>
-    <release version="2.1.7" date="2024-12-05" />
+    <release version="2.1.8" date="2025-06-09" />
   </releases>
 </component>

scripts/build.sh

@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ main() {
   local build_type="debug"
   local prefix=/
   local build_type="release"
-  local sdl3_version="${SDL3_VERSION:-3.2.8}"
+  local sdl3_version="${SDL3_VERSION:-3.2.14}"
   local pkg_config_path
   local cmake_build_type
   local force_fallback

src/main.c

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include <SDL3/SDL.h>
 #include <SDL3/SDL_main.h>
 #include "api/api.h"
+#include "renwindow.h"
 #include "rencache.h"
 #include "renderer.h"
 
@@ -134,7 +135,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
   SDL_SetHint(SDL_HINT_MOUSE_FOCUS_CLICKTHROUGH, "1");
   SDL_SetHint(SDL_HINT_IME_IMPLEMENTED_UI, "1");
   SDL_SetHint(SDL_HINT_RENDER_DRIVER, "software");
-
+  SDL_SetHint(SDL_HINT_IME_IMPLEMENTED_UI, "composition");
   /* This hint tells SDL to respect borderless window as a normal window.
   ** For example, the window will sit right on top of the taskbar instead
   ** of obscuring it. */
@@ -173,7 +174,9 @@ init_lua:
   }
   lua_setglobal(L, "ARGS");
 
-  lua_pushstring(L, SDL_GetPlatform());
+  // hack to keep backwards compatibility with other PLATFORM enums
+  const char *platform = SDL_GetPlatform();
+  lua_pushstring(L, SDL_strcmp(platform, "macOS") == 0 ? "Mac OS X" : platform);
   lua_setglobal(L, "PLATFORM");
 
   lua_pushstring(L, LITE_ARCH_TUPLE);
@@ -197,6 +200,8 @@ init_lua:
 #endif
   SDL_SetEventEnabled(SDL_EVENT_TEXT_INPUT, true);
   SDL_SetEventEnabled(SDL_EVENT_TEXT_EDITING, true);
+  // ugly hack to get SDL3 to give us text input... in certain conditions
+  SDL_StartTextInput(window_renderer.window);
 
   const char *init_lite_code = \
     "local core\n"

subprojects/freetype2.wrap

@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
-[wrap-file]
-directory = freetype-2.13.2
-source_url = https://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/freetype/freetype-2.13.2.tar.xz
-source_fallback_url = https://github.com/mesonbuild/wrapdb/releases/download/freetype2_2.13.2-1/freetype-2.13.2.tar.xz
-source_filename = freetype-2.13.2.tar.xz
-source_hash = 12991c4e55c506dd7f9b765933e62fd2be2e06d421505d7950a132e4f1bb484d
-wrapdb_version = 2.13.2-1
+[wrap-git]
+directory = freetype-master
+url = https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freetype/freetype.git
+revision = master
+depth = 1
 
 [provide]
 freetype2 = freetype_dep