colord

Overview

colord is the upstream color daemon used by desktop and printing software to manage color devices and color profiles. It provides a system service and a D-Bus API for registering devices, associating profiles, and querying color-management state. In practical terms, it sits between applications, desktop components, and device information so that color-related configuration can be stored and reused consistently.

For NiceOS, this package exists because some desktop and printing workflows depend on a shared color-management service. The distribution package makes the daemon, libraries, and command-line tools available in a form that can be integrated with the system service manager and packaged policies.

Purpose and typical use cases

Typical use cases include:

• managing monitor, printer, scanner, and camera color profiles;
• exposing color-management information to desktop environments and graphical tools;
• allowing printing and imaging software to query or register devices and profiles through the system service;
• inspecting or maintaining color configuration from the command line with colormgr.

Typical users are:

• desktop users who rely on color-managed applications;
• administrators who need the service installed and working on a workstation or print-capable system;
• developers integrating color-management features into applications or desktop components;
• CI/CD or release maintainers who validate packaging, service files, and library installability.

Upstream project

The upstream project is hosted by freedesktop.org. The project documentation describes colord as a color daemon and provides usage notes, FAQ material, and API reference documentation. The upstream project page and reference manual are the most useful starting points when checking how the daemon is expected to behave or which interfaces are available.

Dist-git repository contents

This dist-git repository contains the packaging material for NiceOS, not the full upstream source tree.

• SPECS/ contains the RPM spec file and any packaging logic that defines how the package is built.
• SOURCES/ contains metadata and manifest files used to track the upstream source set and its integrity state.
• METADATA/ contains repository metadata used by the packaging workflow.
• SBOM/ contains software bill of materials material when the package workflow provides it.

Large upstream source archives are intentionally not stored in this Git repository. Only the packaging metadata and source-tracking information belong here.

Source storage and integrity policy

NiceOS tracks source integrity through the manifest files stored in SOURCES/. Those files record what source material is expected without embedding the full upstream archive in the Git history.

When updating the package, maintainers should verify that:

• the upstream source set still matches the manifest entries in SOURCES/;
• the spec file still points at the correct upstream build inputs;
• any packaging patches still apply cleanly and still make sense for the new upstream code;
• any source-tracking or SBOM files remain consistent after the update.

Do not assume that a manifest-only update is sufficient if upstream changed build behavior, generated files, or service definitions.

NiceOS maintenance notes

Before updating colord, NiceOS maintainers should check:

• whether the upstream release changes the daemon, libraries, or command-line tools in ways that affect packaging;
• whether spec file patches still apply or need refresh;
• whether systemd units, D-Bus policy, udev rules, or other service-related files need review;
• whether generated documentation, introspection data, or other build artifacts should be regenerated by the build process;
• whether the package still installs cleanly into the expected library and helper paths;
• whether the upstream project changed its recommended install or runtime setup.

Points of risk to consider:

• changes in D-Bus interfaces may affect dependent software;
• changes in service startup or permissions may affect integration testing;
• regenerated helper files or documentation may differ even when the visible feature set looks unchanged;
• source-manifest mismatches can indicate that the packaging inputs are stale.

If any of these areas are unclear, NiceOS maintainers should verify them before relying on the update.

Build and verification checklist

A practical maintainer checklist for RPM updates:

• confirm the upstream source set matches the manifests in SOURCES/;
• review the spec file for obsolete patches, build flags, or file lists;
• rebuild the SRPM and binary RPMs in the target NiceOS build environment;
• check that the daemon, libraries, and helper utilities are packaged as expected;
• run install and file ownership checks on the resulting RPMs;
• verify that the service can start in the target environment, if the package provides or relies on a service unit;
• check that colormgr and any packaged documentation or introspection files are present where expected;
• inspect logs for packaging regressions, missing paths, or dependency issues;
• if applicable, run a minimal functional check that the service responds on D-Bus and can list or query devices.

References

• Upstream project page
• Usage documentation
• FAQ
• Reference manual
• D-Bus API reference: org.freedesktop.ColorManager

Russian documentation

See README_RU.md for Russian documentation.

Dist-git repository notes

• Package repository: rpms/colord
• NiceOS branch: niceos-5.2
• This README is intentionally stable and does not include EVR, source archive checksums or lock hashes.