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xfwl4_faq [2026/04/20 20:14] – [Will xfwl4 support HDR] kelnosxfwl4_faq [2026/11/01 05:02] (current) – kevinbowen
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 +~~NOTOC~~
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 ====== Xfwl4 (Xfce's Wayland Compositor) FAQ ====== ====== Xfwl4 (Xfce's Wayland Compositor) FAQ ======
 +
 +  * **[[#Will xfwl4 behave just like xfwm4?|Will xfwl4 behave just like xfwm4?]]**
 +  * **[[#How can I contribute?|How can I contribute?]]**
 +  * **[[#Ok, so when is the preview release?|Ok, so when is the preview release?]]**
 +  * **[[#How can I keep track of progress?|How can I keep track of progress?]]**
 +  * **[[#What's going to happen to xfwm4 and X11 support?|What's going to happen to xfwm4 and X11 support?]]**
 +  * **[[#Why Rust?|Why Rust?]]**
 +  * **[[#Is all of Xfce being rewritten in Rust?|Is all of Xfce being rewritten in Rust?]]**
 +  * **[[#Why wasn't it feasible to base this work on the existing xfwm4 code?|Why wasn't it feasible to base this work on the existing xfwm4 code?]]**
 +  * **[[#Will xfwl4 support HDR?|Will xfwl4 support HDR?]]**
 +
 +----
  
 ===== Will xfwl4 behave just like xfwm4? ===== ===== Will xfwl4 behave just like xfwm4? =====
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 In reality, that won't quite be the case.  Some desktop environment concepts are just not standardized on Wayland, and aren't implementable.  It will take time to achieve feature parity with xfwm4, so some things might be missing for a while.  And while I'll do my best, I'm sure I'll make mistakes, and some things won't be quite the same (but I'm happy to try and fix any cases of that if it's brought to my attention). In reality, that won't quite be the case.  Some desktop environment concepts are just not standardized on Wayland, and aren't implementable.  It will take time to achieve feature parity with xfwm4, so some things might be missing for a while.  And while I'll do my best, I'm sure I'll make mistakes, and some things won't be quite the same (but I'm happy to try and fix any cases of that if it's brought to my attention).
 +
 +----
  
 ===== 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? ===== ===== 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|monthly milestones]] to easily see roughly when things were completed.+I keep the [[https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfwl4/-/boards|issue board]] updated as I work on and complete things.  You can also look at the [[https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/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.  But, again, please don't file new issues, and please don't ask me for help with it if you can't get it running.  At this point it's a you're-on-your-own sort of situation.+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? =====
  
 xfwm4 will continue to work as an X11 window manager as it always has.  Xfce should continue to run on X11, and there are no plans currently to drop support, or change things so parts of the desktop only run properly on Wayland. xfwm4 will continue to work as an X11 window manager as it always has.  Xfce should continue to run on X11, and there are no plans currently to drop support, or change things so parts of the desktop only run properly on Wayland.
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 +----
  
 ===== Why Rust? ===== ===== Why Rust? =====
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 (You may disagree that Rust is better-suited than C here; my view is a subjective one, after all.  That's fine, but this decision is not up for further debate, and comments about the choice of Rust are boring and will not lead to productive or useful discussion.) (You may disagree that Rust is better-suited than C here; my view is a subjective one, after all.  That's fine, but this decision is not up for further debate, and comments about the choice of Rust are boring and will not lead to productive or useful discussion.)
 +
 +
 +----
  
 ===== Is all of Xfce being rewritten in Rust? ===== ===== Is all of Xfce being rewritten in Rust? =====
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 For some extra detail here: if you're not aware, Xfce is made up of quite a few different components, each of which are separate programs.  The only one that is being replaced/rewritten for Wayland is xfwm4.  The rest, fortunately, can be (or have been) modified to serve double duty and can run under both X11 and Wayland, without needing major, fundamental changes.  Those other components are written in C, and nothing is changing there. For some extra detail here: if you're not aware, Xfce is made up of quite a few different components, each of which are separate programs.  The only one that is being replaced/rewritten for Wayland is xfwm4.  The rest, fortunately, can be (or have been) modified to serve double duty and can run under both X11 and Wayland, without needing major, fundamental changes.  Those other components are written in C, and nothing is changing there.
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 +[[|Back to Top]]
 +----
  
 ===== Why wasn't it feasible to base this work on the existing xfwm4 code? ===== ===== Why wasn't it feasible to base this work on the existing xfwm4 code? =====
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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? ===== ===== 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.+Not initially, no.  See [[https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfwl4/-/issues/31|this issue]] for more information, and feel free to subscribe to that issue in order to receive any notifications on progress. 
 + 
 +[[|Back to Top]] 
 +---- 
 + 
 +[[:releng:wayland_roadmap|Return to Wayland Roadmap Page]] 
 + 
 +[[:start|Return to Main Xfce Wiki Page]]