How to create native GUI apps in Rust for Linux ?

Pop! OS developers team is taking this route. They are re-writing all apps and desktop environment (COSMIC DE) in Rust with GTK 4 library binding/wrapper. So, you can create native GUI apps in Rust for Linux with Rust and GTK 4. Take a look at the source code of popsicle app on github. Popsicle is a program is create bootable USB sticks, and they describe it as “Multiple USB File Flasher”. Popsicle app is written in Rust and GTK4 by Pop! OS developers team.

Install Rust

If you did not install Rust programming language until now, just head to the official website and install it right now using this command I get from the official website.

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

GTK 4

Grab the GTK 4 development library package on your system using cargo.

Bare bone Rust + GTK 4 app

You can get gtk-rs examples here. Just pick one of those examples and edit it and iterate over it to reach your desired application look and feel.

Here is a little GTK 4 example in Rust

use gtk::prelude::*;

fn main() {
    let application =
        gtk::Application::new(Some("com.github.gtk-rs.examples.basic"), Default::default());
    application.connect_activate(build_ui);
    application.run();
}

fn build_ui(application: &gtk::Application) {
    let window = gtk::ApplicationWindow::new(application);

    window.set_title(Some("First GTK Program"));
    window.set_default_size(350, 70);

    let button = gtk::Button::with_label("Click me!");

    window.set_child(Some(&button));

    window.show();
}

Use this command to run this little program:

cargo run