this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2026
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"notwin95" -- A minimal application launcher. (suppo.fi)
submitted 3 days ago by cm0002@suppo.fi to c/linux@programming.dev
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Click here to download it.

  • What it is

A minimal, windows 95-esque application launcher... with fancy directory icons over binary name suggestions, mouse support (you can doubleclick a binary name to run it) and a real-time clock on the far right.

  • Why

Nostalgia... and a (very likely) "futureproof" likeness (If both X11 and wayland gets ditched/replaced for whatever reason... this will still work as intended.). Also, due to how it works on both X11 and wayland regardless of whatever you have installed. Yes, distro hoppers -- I heard your plea. :')

  • Dependencies

Type "sudo apt install build-essential libsdl2-dev" if you are on Debian/ubuntu

  • How to compile

After downloading and extracting the tarball,

make -j$(nproc)

It'll create a "notwin95" binary.

Then run it with ./notwin95.

  • How to install

Type "sudo cp notwin95 /usr/local/bin/.".

  • Commands

Arrow keys (up/down/left/right) or mouse left click to navigate between suggestions. Press enter (or mouse double left click) to run a binary. Press ESC to quit.

  • Notes

I've tested this on a orange pi 5 max and the CPU usage was pretty much nil. So I'm sure all of you will have no problems/issues running it.

  • License

This is under the "DO WHATEVER YOU WANT" license. Should be self-explanatory.

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[โ€“] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

It looks a lot more like my old Atari ST Desktop than Windows 95, though.
Just move the Taskbar to the top and add two or three additional menus to it.
And make the mouse pointer a bee when system under load :-)

[โ€“] unquietwiki@programming.dev 2 points 3 days ago

Upvoted because its neat, but the distribution needs work: you have a TAR file in the GZIP, not labeled as a TAR file, so it's hard to tell at first what/how you're supposed to access this.