X11 or Wayland?

general
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I have been trying out Cosmic DE. I am now on Alpha 4, and so far the DE is pretty stable. The only major issue is that Cosmic DE is based on Wayland.

Now I see other DEs, like Gnome switching over to Wayland as the default, however I see that some if not most software is still built to use X11.

So my question is, have you moved to a Wayland DE or are you still on X11?

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I switched my KDE to Wayland ~ two month ago.
It feels a bit smoother and in someway, modern. I can’t say why but it feels more pleasant.
Anyway, no problems. Everything is working good

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It depends on your specific use case and priorities. Here’s from an IT/Sysadmin view:

X11

  • Pros:

    • Mature and Stable: Decades of development mean excellent support for a wide range of applications and environments.
    • Remote Access: Built-in support for forwarding via SSH (e.g., ssh -X), which is invaluable for remote sysadmins.
    • Compatibility: Works well with legacy applications and older hardware.
    • Customizability: Endless options to tweak with tools like xrandr or xinput.

  • Cons:

    • Security: Lacks modern security features; everything runs in a shared space.
    • Performance: Not optimized for high refresh rates or modern GPUs. Screen tearing can still be an issue.
    • Complexity: The protocol is over-engineered for modern needs.

Wayland

  • Pros:

    • Security: Uses isolated processes for applications, reducing attack surfaces.
    • Performance: Designed for modern hardware, offering smoother animations and better support for high-DPI displays.
    • Simplicity: Aims to reduce legacy cruft, making it lighter and more streamlined.
    • Modern Features: Great for gaming (e.g., with Vulkan) and supports fractional scaling on many environments.

  • Cons:

    • Immaturity: Not all applications and drivers play nice with Wayland yet.
    • Remote Access: Limited options for remote desktop or app forwarding (though this is improving with projects like PipeWire and RDP integration).
    • Fewer Customization Tools: Advanced tweaks can be limited.

Recommendations

  • Stick with X11 if you:

    • Need rock-solid compatibility.
    • Rely on remote access (e.g., headless servers with GUI tools over SSH).
    • Use older hardware or specific software that’s not Wayland-compatible.

  • Try Wayland if you:

    • Use a modern desktop like GNOME, COSMIC or KDE on new hardware.
    • Prioritize security or smooth performance.
    • Work on graphics-heavy tasks like video editing or gaming.

For most server-side or utility setups, X11 remains the safer bet for now. However, Wayland is the future for desktop environments—just make sure your workflows are compatible before switching.

The more of us that use Wayland will probably lead to faster improvements and compatibilty.

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Thanks @hydn for this clear view!

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@hydn , The point that hits home for me is Stick with X11 if you use specific software that’s not Wayland-compatible.

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I use Wayland exclusively now. Of course, I am an Ubuntu/ZorinOS user, so that makes sense, I guess. Zorin lets you log into an X11 session, but I never do. I have no issues with any of the apps I use, and for my purposes everything runs smoothly. That’s on a variety of devices, too, with a variety of graphics processors. Two of those computers are over 5 years old.

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@QuietType It’s great that Wayland works so well for you across a variety of devices, especially older ones. The maturity of desktop environments like ZorinOS and Ubuntu really shines here. Have you noticed any significant benefits with Wayland on those systems compared to X11?

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I was preparing to ditch Wayland and go back to X11 when @QuietType gave me a pause. I installed QTile Wayland and gave it a quick run at some of the software that was glitchy under Cosmic, and what you know, it worked fine.

So as @hydn mentioned, how well Wayland works may come down to the maturity of desktop environments.

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Fedora uses wayland by default and that is the best part no additional switches needed.

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Sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore your question. I can’t say that I actually see benefits of Wayland over X11 yet. I mean, I’ve been running X11 for a long time and all the distros and apps were built for it. Soon the same will be true for Wayland. I understand that Wayland offers better security, so that may be a benefit I can’t really see. Of course, some apps may not be optimized for Wayland yet, but my primary interest lies in enjoying a stable experience on each of my Linux devices, and I can do that with a minimium of intervention on my part.

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Maybe Wayland is a bit like IPv6 and 5G. haha. Two other technologies that they have been trying to get everyone to appreciate and switch to. But maybe they are only better on paper, and to the average users there’s really nothing noteworthy enough to go crazy about.

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@hydn Like IPv6??? hhmmmmmm, maybe. I will say it’s between 5G and IPv6, and may soon pass 5G in usage.

I have Budgie on another desktop that I hardly use. I put it there in case the rest of the family needed to use a computer and I was not around. Interestingly a news item popped up in my google news shortly after I did an update to it in the last week. Budgie 10.10 is going Wayland only, this quarter. Budgie 10.10 Desktop Will Be Wayland-Only as Work Continues on Budgie 11 - 9to5Linux.

So the Wayland adoption continues to speed up. As I was doing some more research on Wayland, I found out that there are a few different libraries for Wayland servers. Sway does wlroots, Hyprland recently did aquamarine. Cosmic DE builds it’s own based on Smithay. The first paragraph in the Arch Wiki explains it. COSMIC - ArchWiki. GIMP 3.0 promises Wayland support and we are hoping to have a release this year. GIMP Developer - Roadmaps.

I am looking forward to seeing where we are at with Wayland in the next year. I would admit that I see a difference in the graphics and feel of the computer with Wayland compared to X11. Graphics and text tend to be a tad faster and cleaner. I can actually see the difference. Right now I am on Qtile X11 with Picom as the compositor. If Qtile updates their Wayland code to be able to implement the lock screen, it would be an easy switch for me.

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Haha! Are you actively making use of IPv6 over IPv4? I still prioritize IPv4. (Naughty, I know lol) But I have a bad memory, especially with numbers and letters combined. :laughing:

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I’m currently stuck on X11 because I often use remote desktop software like Anydesk and similar, they currently don’t work under Wayland.
Wayland it might be the standard on the future, but for now, until XFCE support and work well on X11 I don’t see any point about switch.
That’s my personal opinion.