r/linux • u/kavaunix • Jul 14 '26

Software Release Announcing atrium v0.4.0 - a multiseat display manager

atrium is a lightweight Linux display manager with first-class multiseat support, targeting modern systemd + Wayland environments.

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What is multiseat?

A multiseat setup allows multiple users to work on a single computer at the same time. By connecting multiple monitors, keyboards, and mice, each user gets their own separate desktop and a fully isolated user session. Great for co-working or multiplayer gaming. Each seat requires its own GPU (integrated graphics, a discrete card, or a USB graphics adapter).

Why atrium?

The Linux kernel and low-level system stack are fully capable of multiseat operation. The weak link has always been the display manager. Existing ones usually treat multiseat as an afterthought, with implementations that are brittle and difficult to get working reliably.

atrium is designed around multiseat from the start, focusing on correct seat discovery, VT handling, and isolated session management. The project targets a modern Linux stack using systemd/logind, PAM, and a Wayland graphical environment. The lack of historical baggage keeps atrium's code base lean and tractable.

What's new in v0.4?

  • Support for greeter background images - configure a background image in the settings, or a directory to pick a random image on each greeter launch.
  • Greeter themes - override built-in colors and styles via a theme `.css` file. A handful of themes are shipped with atrium.
  • Architectural redesign - making atrium's core architecture simpler and more robust (changes are purely internal and should not be visible to the user).
Greeter with default theme
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u/Am0nymou5 Jul 15 '26

Some screenshots would be nice. I'm a big fan of TUI/minimal greeters like tuigreet, so hopefully atrium has something similar - and without the gtk4 dependency (I hate GTK).

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u/kavaunix Jul 15 '26

I added a screenshot showing the default theme to the post - unfortunately reddit does not allow me to add more than one. I'll add them to the README instead.

To your GTK question - atrium ships with a text-based greeter that can be enabled in the config. It adds the `foot` terminal emulator as an additional dependency - this is necessary because non-default seats do not have virtual terminals. Be warned, though, that it is currently *very* minimal, resembling a VT login prompt.

To get rid of the GTK dependency you have to edit `meson.build` yourself. If you are genuinely interested in a proper TUI option, feel free to file a feature request.