Which X server to include in next iteration of custom T2 Linux?

[orlovskyjavaprofi]

The year is 2026 , the https://github.com/orlovskyjavaprofi/t2customlinux was released
now the biggest and important question about X server which one to include in next iteration of custom t2 Linux?

[orlovskyjavaprofi]

Current project website : https://orlovskyjavaprofi.github.io/t2customlinux/

[wilsonephillips]

Over at OpenMandriva, we are using XLibre and we are very pleased with it.

[orlovskyjavaprofi]

Cool, XLibre inherits the X11 architecture , but what about future and if i plan to get some enterprise clients, they all use Wayland, the situation is worse then we can imagine.

[flexibeast]

Wayland isn't an X server; it's a completely different protocol. (Although there is "Xwayland", which provides an Xorg server as a client in a Wayland environment.)

Did you perhaps mean something like "Which of the following systems for a desktop should be included ..."?

[orlovskyjavaprofi]

Wayland isn't an X server; it's a completely different protocol thats true. I meant "Xwayland", which provides an Xorg server as a client in a Wayland environment.

[uityyy]

I see on your website that your favourite desktops are Xfce and Trinity. Both of these work best with X11.

Xfce can also be run with a Wayland compositor like labwc, but it is not as polished an experience. They are also creating their own Wayland compositor, but it is not finished.

Trinity, if I am not mistaken, is not interested in Wayland.

As for X Servers proper:

• XOrg is being maintained by people who believe Wayland is the future, so they are providing security updates but few other changes. This means if it works for you today it will likely keep working, but if you have problems they may not be fixed. This is an experiences similar to installing an LTS (long-term support) Linux distribution.
• XLibre is being maintained by people who prefer X11 to Wayland. This means it is getting frequent updates and new features. The new features so far include restoring support for some older hardware that stopped working with XOrg, but more frequent updates also mean more chances for things to stop working temporarily and more releases for you to keep up with packaging.
• T2's X11 server is XOrg modified by René, who likes to keep Linux working on every hardware imaginable. It currently contains a patch to restore support for accelerated 2D graphics from the 1990s. This is unlikely to be added to XOrg, and last I checked no one had acted on the suggestion to add it to XLibre, but this is only important if you want to support very old hardware.

[orlovskyjavaprofi]

Right and this why i concerned about, at the moment community really fractured.
In my point of view if i get at some point enterprise clients , they probably will use XWayland/Wayland anyways, so reality is not black and white, there need be a good solution and for me pools should give definitive answer where its all go.
If TDE wont work with wayland and i picked wayland, then i would try to run it via Xwayland, if it does not work well, then it means writing Wayland compositor specifically for TDE turning Twin into Wayland compositor.
Rene work actually fascinating, support for older hardware , especially in this day are beneficial.

[uityyy]

Well, in that case my suggestion would be for 2026:

1. Use the T2 X11 server because it will work for most people and doesn't require extra work from you to set up.
2. Package labwc as well. It will give you a mostly complete Wayland session for Xfce and can also be used on its own as a lightweight windowing environment similar to openbox.

The problem with Wayland is that you can't just install one Wayland server and make everyone happy the way you can with an X server because Wayland largely does not have the display server vs. window manager distinction that X11 has. Essentially every Wayland window manager is a separate display server, and most desktops have their own. The good news is that they don't need a ton of individual setup as they just use whatever hardware drivers you have installed automatically unlike the bad old days of XF86Config.

In the future you may wish to support:

1. XLibre because it's the X11 server with the largest amount of ongoing development
2. xfwl4 because it is a Wayland compositor specifically made for Xfce.
3. Anything else your clients specifically request.

But personally I would hold off on moving that direction for another six months because

• xfwl4 has only just had its first testing release and is not considered battle-tested and stable yet. It also requires the latest test releases of several Xfce components.
• most X11 users are not currently using any of the features that only exist in XLibre, and packaging it is extra work.

Obviously, that's just one man's opinion. Some people are excited by what's happening with xfwl4 or XLibre or dozens of other things, and you might want them as clients excited you're including them.

[orlovskyjavaprofi]

Yes its a challenge, there is no silver bullet and i try to stay sane and reasonable, but i am not convinced either to go full XLibre or Xorg, even if it make sense for now.
In the past running pools was very effective method to understand where technology wise everything going, will Wayland can "screw" us as community, that can or may happen and lets assume if it happens my response to that will be to establish own derivative of Wayland but in such way that i would be not alone but rather in some sort partnership and foundation with other smaller distributions , definitely we live in interesting times, thank your for your feedback.

[orlovskyjavaprofi]

[simotek]

The latest Version's of OBS Studio certainly work fine, can't comment on the rest.

[orlovskyjavaprofi]

Thats migration is reasonable.

[simotek]

I think if you were going to go with Wayland to have it work well you'd need either Gnome, KDE or one of the new wayland focused desktops such as Hyperland (I know its very popular I haven't tried it). Personally the newest KDE Stack does everything I need, but also I don't need to maintain it. 6-12 months ago I wouldn't have been able to say that.

[orlovskyjavaprofi]

We in transition mode, soon i get dedicated hardware, roll out my distro and start building X stuff, pool should end , i preparing really good presentation about reasons why to go full on X Server.

[orlovskyjavaprofi]

@ALL

We will use Wayland!

Here youtube video about!
https://youtu.be/IF6e6G68Gnw