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xfwl4_faq [2026/01/30 11:20] – kelnosxfwl4_faq [2026/06/22 02:40] (current) – [How can I keep track of progress?] kelnos
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 ===== How can I contribute? ===== ===== How can I contribute? =====
  
-At this point, you shouldn't; doing so would frankly just slow things down and be counter-productive.  Later, when things are more stable, and development has slowed down, more people can (and should!) get involved. +Try it out, file issues for missing features and bugs.  See the [[https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfwl4/-/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md|contribution doc]] for details.
- +
-For now, also please do not file any issues, feature requests, or merge requests on the Gitlab issue tracker.  Things will be missing and broken, and it's likely I already know about whatever it is you're going to report.  (And if I don't, it's off my radar, and trying to put it there will only get in my way.)  After we have a preview release, then it will be time to report problems. +
 ===== Ok, so when is the preview release? ===== ===== Ok, so when is the preview release? =====
  
-I'm aiming for sometime in the middle of 2026.  No hard date, and things can change, but I do want to get something usable into people's hands as soon as possible.+It was released on June 21, 2026. 
 +===== How can I keep track of progress? =====
  
 +I keep the [[https://gitlab.xfce.org/kelnos/xfwl4/-/boards|issue board]] updated as I work on and complete things.  You can also look at the [[https://gitlab.xfce.org/kelnos/xfwl4/-/milestones?state=all|milestones]] to easily see roughly when things were completed.  (Note that now that the first preview release is out, I may not keep up with updating milestones.)
 +
 +Also, feel free to clone the repo and take a look.
 ===== What's going to happen to xfwm4 and X11 support? ===== ===== What's going to happen to xfwm4 and X11 support? =====
  
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 I tried this, back in 2024.  The idea was to refactor things so that xfwm4's behaviors were split away from the X11 details.  Then both the existing X11 code, and new Wayland code, could use the same behavior code.  This turned out to be incredibly difficult.  I spent about 3 weeks working on this, and learned: I tried this, back in 2024.  The idea was to refactor things so that xfwm4's behaviors were split away from the X11 details.  Then both the existing X11 code, and new Wayland code, could use the same behavior code.  This turned out to be incredibly difficult.  I spent about 3 weeks working on this, and learned:
  
-  - I was nowhere near done, and there would still be months of work to do, even before writing any functional Wayland code.+  - I was nowhere near done, and there would still be months of work to do, even before writing any functional Wayland code.  At this point the diff was already at around 20,000 lines changed.
   - Several times during the process, despite a high level of care, I broke it (crashes, broken windowing behavior).  I wasn't feeling confident that the result would be high-quality and regression-free.   - Several times during the process, despite a high level of care, I broke it (crashes, broken windowing behavior).  I wasn't feeling confident that the result would be high-quality and regression-free.
   - It's probably easier to write a Wayland compositor that you later turn into an X11 window manager, than it is to do the reverse.   - It's probably easier to write a Wayland compositor that you later turn into an X11 window manager, than it is to do the reverse.
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 I really wanted to use xfwm4, as it's an extremely high-quality piece of software that's been battle-tested over decades.  But I could only conclude that it wasn't going to be the best, least-risky option. I really wanted to use xfwm4, as it's an extremely high-quality piece of software that's been battle-tested over decades.  But I could only conclude that it wasn't going to be the best, least-risky option.
 +
 +===== Will xfwl4 support HDR? =====
 +
 +Not initially, no.  See [[https://gitlab.xfce.org/kelnos/xfwl4/-/issues/31|this issue]] for more information, and feel free to subscribe to that issue in order to receive any notifications on progress.