LeanForge Software
We build native desktop and terminal tools with FLTK and ncurses — no browser runtime, no virtual machine, no framework tax. Just a binary that starts when you run it and gets out of the way.
Five rules we don't break, in the order we check them.
Compile to machine code, not to a runtime. If your "app" needs an interpreter installed first, it isn't finished.
A widget toolkit ships in kilobytes, not gigabytes. Static-link it, strip it, and it should still fit on media from 1998.
The terminal is a first-class interface. Not a fallback for when the GUI didn't ship in time.
If it needs a GPU to render a button, it isn't ready. Rasterizing text at 60fps is not a design requirement.
Dependencies are liabilities. Count them. Every shared library is something that can break, go unmaintained, or vanish from the registry.
Two product lines. Both compile down to a single native binary.
A component library for FLTK, built the way Delphi's VCL was built: fast to compile, fast to run, no license server, no subscription. Drop-in widgets for forms, log viewers, and instrument panels.
| Static library size | ~340 KB |
| Runtime dependencies | 0 |
| Platforms | Linux · Windows · BSD |
| Toolchain | GCC · MSYS2 UCRT64 |
Full-featured ncurses applications for systems where a desktop environment is a luxury you can't afford — edge devices, headless boards, and machines running over a serial line.
| Binary size (typical) | < 100 KB |
| Runtime dependencies | libncurses |
| Platforms | Linux · ARM (BeagleBone) · BSD |
| Minimum terminal | 80×24, 16 colors |
A hello-world window, three ways. Same task, very different bill.
| Toolkit | Binary size | RAM at idle | Dependencies |
|---|---|---|---|
| flxWidgets (FLTK, static) | ~180 KB | ~4 MB | 0 |
| Qt (dynamic link) | ~1.2 MB | ~28 MB | ~15 shared libs |
| Electron | ~90 MB | ~180 MB | Chromium + Node.js |
Figures are representative orders of magnitude from common public benchmarks of each toolkit, not a single controlled test on identical hardware — your mileage will vary by platform, compiler flags, and how much you strip.
Source-available. No installer, no telemetry, no account required.
git clone https://github.com/leanforge/flxwidgets.git