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From a Simple Shell to a Complete Suite
Years ago, Wayland desktop environments suffered from a severe shortage of ready-made tools. A user choosing Niri, Hyprland, or Sway found themselves forced to assemble their environment manually from dozens of small programs: a status bar, a launcher, a notification daemon, a lock screen, a file manager. Each tool with a different language and design.
Dux Labs (formerly Dank Linux) came to fill this gap. What started as a hobby project last December has now become a complete desktop suite called DMS 2.0 (codename Heisenberg), running on over ten different Wayland compositors.
🔗 Official Website: duxlabs.dev 🔗 GitHub Repository: github.com/duxlabs-dev/dux-shell
Why the Name Change?
In October 2026, the team announced a radical identity change. DankMaterialShell became Dux Shell, and Dank Linux became Dux Labs. The reason is simple: the old name referred to a single shell, while the project has become a complete suite of independent applications.
The new name “Dux” is inspired by the team mascot (a penguin wearing a hat) and echoes “Tux,” the Linux penguin. More practically, the initial letters of the old tools like dms, dcal, and dgop remain the same, so there is no need to change terminal habits.
What Does DMS 2.0 Offer?
The suite consists of seven main components, each performing a function that previously required a separate tool:
Dux Shell (The Shell)
It is the heart. It runs on Niri, Hyprland, Sway, MangoWC, LabWC, Miracle, Aqueous, Scroll, and Umbriel. It provides a status bar, launcher, control center, notifications, and lock screen. The new design relies on Material 3 Expressive, with support for Dux Dot (a floating element that transforms into a player, control center, or dashboard).
Dux Files (File Manager)
This is the only new component. A standalone file manager (no need for the shell to run) supporting tabs, split view, trash, space preview, ZIP/TAR/7z/RAR archiving, and network browsing via SFTP, SMB, and WebDAV. It works entirely from the keyboard.
Dux Calendar (Calendar)
A calendar supporting Google, Microsoft, CalDAV, and iCloud, with tasks and events in a single interface.
Dux GOP (System Monitor)
Monitoring CPU, memory, GPU, disks, and network status. Lightweight and independent.
Dux Greeter (Login Screen)
A greetd login interface, visually consistent with the shell.
Dux Search (Search)
A fast filesystem search tool.
Dux Lyrical Engine (Lyrics)
A synchronized lyrics engine inside the media player, supporting word-level or syllable-level synchronization, with sources like Better Lyrics, Unison, LRCLIB, and YouTube Music.
Customization: One Color for Everything
One of Dux’s strongest features is automatic theming. The shell generates a complete color palette (16 colors) from the desktop wallpaper (via matugen) and applies it to GTK3, GTK4, and Qt applications, as well as terminal and editor color schemes. This means everything looks consistent without manual configuration.
Installation: How to Get It
Arch Linux
The package is available in the extra-testing repository as dux-shell:
# After enabling extra-testing
sudo pacman -S dux-shell
Ubuntu / Debian
An official PPA exists:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:duxlabs/dms-git
sudo apt update
sudo apt install dux-shell
Solus
Available in the official repositories after the latest update.
FreeBSD and RHEL
Version 2.0 adds support for FreeBSD and Enterprise Linux 10 (RHEL, Rocky, AlmaLinux).
Manual Installation (Any Distro)
If your distribution is not supported, you can use the official installation script or build from source via go, git, and quickshell.
Important Note for Existing Users
If you previously used DankMaterialShell, updating to 2.0 requires changing the application ID from com.danklinux.dms to dev.duxlabs.shell. This affects custom window rules in Niri or Hyprland. Package names have also changed (e.g., dms to dux-shell), but the commands (dms) remain the same.
Who Is This Suite For?
Suitable for: Advanced Wayland users who want an integrated and consistent environment without assembling tools manually. Customization enthusiasts who want precise control over colors and layout. Niri and Hyprland users looking for a ready-made shell.
Not suitable for: New users who want a traditional desktop environment (GNOME or KDE). Those seeking long-term stability without frequent updates. X11 users (the suite is Wayland-only).
Summary
Dux Labs has delivered what was missing from Wayland environments built on compositors: one suite, consistent, and open source, covering everything from the shell to the file manager. The rebranding was not just cosmetic. It expressed the project’s maturity from a “shell” to a “complete desktop platform.” If you are a Wayland user who wants a modern and integrated work environment, DMS 2.0 is worth trying.
Quick Links
DMS 2.0 Release Announcement (Blog)
Published in the GNU/Linux section – Desktop Environments ```
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