X11 Users May Find Wayland Unprepared for Their Needs at All Times
In the ongoing transition from X11 to Wayland, users are facing a number of challenges and concerns that have been highlighted in a community poll and subsequent analysis by Brodie Robertson.
One of the major issues identified is application compatibility. Many applications have yet to be ported from X11 to Wayland, causing functionality gaps and broken workflows. This is a significant concern as it leads to incomplete user experiences.
Another issue arises when running X11 and Wayland applications side by side. Problems such as failing drag and drop operations have been reported, causing inconvenience for users who need to seamlessly switch between applications.
Wayland's support for older GPUs like GeForce GT610 and GT710 is also a concern. The weak support for legacy hardware negatively impacts users with older systems.
Contrary to some beliefs, Wayland can have increased resource consumption compared to X11. This is a concern for users who value system efficiency.
Missing features in Wayland include the lack of global hotkeys, incomplete or buggy graphics tablet support, and OBS (streaming software) lacking support for embedding browser windows. Additionally, Wayland offers inadequate support for Japanese, other foreign languages, and onscreen keyboards. It also lacks support for overscanning monitors or multiple mouse cursors, and a missing multi-monitor fullscreen option.
Another issue is the regressions with accessibility in Wayland. This is a significant concern for users who rely on assistive technologies.
Furthermore, there is no real replacement for tools like xdotool used widely for automation on X11. This lack of automation alternative is a concern for users who need to automate tasks.
Wayland's support on BSD systems remains limited or lacking. This is a concern for users who prefer BSD systems.
Users also report worse input latency in Wayland compared to X11, which is critical for gaming performance.
The philosophical and practical breakage in Wayland is also a concern. Wayland is binary incompatible with X11, lacks a straightforward 1:1 replacement for many features or utilities, and is seen as focused mostly on a few desktop environments. This alienates users of other desktop environments.
Window management and visual issues are also present in Wayland. Wayland often fails to restore windows to previous positions, shows odd behavior with window sizing or multi-scaling factors, and visual glitches persist, for example in video playback and compositing capabilities compared to X11.
While Wayland offers improved security, modernity, and some performance benefits over X11, these compatibility, feature, hardware support, and user experience issues continue to hinder its adoption among many users.
Brodie Robertson's community poll and subsequent analysis reflect the broad feedback from the community about the transition from X11 to Wayland. The ongoing transition presents both opportunities and challenges, and it is essential for developers to address these concerns to ensure a smooth transition for all users.
- The transition from X11 to Wayland poses challenges, one of which is the compatibility of hardware, specifically older GPUs like GeForce GT610 and GT710, as weak support for legacy hardware negatively impacts users with older systems.
- In the data-and-cloud-computing realm, it's important to mention that Wayland's support for automation, currently lacking a real replacement for tools like xdotool, is a concern for users who need to automate tasks.
