this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2024
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I use Arch btw

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I don't know who Wayland is (i.imgflip.com)
submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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If anyone wants to give an ELI5 or a link to a video that ELI5 I'd be incredibly thankful

I swear that all the stuff I find is like super in depth technical stuff that just loses me in no time flat

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Super-short version:

The system that Linux uses to draw anything on the screen (showing the desktop, your windows, their contents, etc) is called a display server.

Linux has been using a display server called the X Window System (or x11) since its inception, but it's ancient and has limitations that can't be fixed without breaking everything that depends on it.

The Wayland compositor is the new display server that will be replacing x11, improving security and adding support for newer features like HDR. It's nearly ready for a full release now, and is already the default for some Linux distributions.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Since the 80’s, Linux has been using a display server called the X Window System

This is, of course, not true, given that Linux did not yet exist in the 1980s.

Unix-like systems that predate Linux did already use it in the 1980s.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That’s an important point for the youngsters here who think Linux was always a thing: x11 far predates Linux

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Are you know what predates x11? Love and compassion

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Wayland is not a server or a program. It is a set of protocols implemented by the desktop. Basically your desktop draws to the display and then your apps connect to the desktop

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Hence my reference to the Wayland compositor rather than just Wayland.