Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@probonopd
Last active October 31, 2025 12:38
Show Gist options
  • Save probonopd/301319568a554abe7426c02eb5e19b5a to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save probonopd/301319568a554abe7426c02eb5e19b5a to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.

Are we XLibre yet?

X11 has been, and still is, a vital piece of technology at the core of professional Unix-like workstations since decades. It has a proven track record of supporting enterprise-grade applications with long-term protocol stability and platform compatibility. It has matured over decades. XLibre is an actively developed fork of the X.Org X11 server, initiated by the most active X.Org developer and supported by the open source community.

An incompatible alternative, Wayland, is being aggressively pushed by IBM = Red Hat = Gnome = Fedora = freedesktop.org. However, it is not ready to succeed X11 as it its governance model leads to never-ending discussions and prevents even the most essential functionality from existing. Think twice before abandoning Xorg. Wayland breaks everything!

It is time that the open source community reclaims what was ours to begin with. This page lists distributions supporting XLibre so that you can make an informed choice.

--> Table has moved to https://github.com/X11Libre/xserver/wiki/Are-We-XLibre-Yet%3F <--

@reaperx7
Copy link

you can have xorg until 2036 with ubuntu 24.04

And by 2036, Wayland will be deemed "too old" and they will write an incompatible "Wayland 2" which is more restrictive. Mark my words. Just look at Gtk.

No, by that time we'll have DirectFBX which will replace X and Wayland both, incorporate uwuisms, have My Little Pony as a mascot, and run off libbronie exclusively.

@xgui4
Copy link

xgui4 commented Jul 29, 2025

you can have xorg until 2036 with ubuntu 24.04

And by 2036, Wayland will be deemed "too old" and they will write an incompatible "Wayland 2" which is more restrictive. Mark my words. Just look at Gtk.

i hope you are wrong , cause wayland is already way tooo much restrictive...

@xgui4
Copy link

xgui4 commented Jul 29, 2025

you can have xorg until 2036 with ubuntu 24.04

And by 2036, Wayland will be deemed "too old" and they will write an incompatible "Wayland 2" which is more restrictive. Mark my words. Just look at Gtk.

No, by that time we'll have DirectFBX which will replace X and Wayland both, incorporate uwuisms, have My Little Pony as a mascot, and run off libbronie exclusively.

so a display server made by people with unstable mental health and infected by the woke mind virus ?

@xgui4
Copy link

xgui4 commented Jul 29, 2025

if you are right, then xlibre is the only place for mentally stable and unawake people ...

@RandomTNT
Copy link

gg men

@reaperx7
Copy link

if you are right, then xlibre is the only place for mentally stable and unawake people ...

At least we're not sheeple.

@NexusSfan
Copy link

For those maintaining the wiki table: SDDM should be marked as "works". I use SDDM to start an X11 sessions all the time, even for environments unlikely to get a wayland support like IceWM and TDM.

IceWM already stated they will never support Wayland.

@darkhog
Copy link

darkhog commented Oct 6, 2025

For those maintaining the wiki table: SDDM should be marked as "works". I use SDDM to start an X11 sessions all the time, even for environments unlikely to get a wayland support like IceWM and TDM.

IceWM already stated they will never support Wayland.

That's what I've heard too, but you never know. People change their minds all the time for all sorts of reasons. Hopefully they will support X11 for as long as possible. By the way, are you aware of any GUI IceWM configurator that allows you to change settings you normally need to edit config files for?

@NexusSfan
Copy link

Hopefully they will support X11 for as long as possible.

I think by then Xorg will be long gone and XLibre and the OpenBSD port will be the only 2 X11 implementations.

By the way, are you aware of any GUI IceWM configurator that allows you to change settings you normally need to edit config files for?

There is such a tool? That would be helpful, as it is annoying for me to manually edit my dotfiles for icewm.

@darkhog
Copy link

darkhog commented Oct 6, 2025

I was asking you. I guess I will have to write one eventually, probably after finishing TuWiM and a configurator for TWM, which I write for the worst case scenario of all the other WMs and DEs abandoning X11 completely (and there's no chance in hell TWM will be ported to Wayland on account of a) no longer being worked on and b) being so intertwined with Xorg as to be shipped along with it as a default in certain distros).

@xgui4
Copy link

xgui4 commented Oct 6, 2025

I was asking you. I guess I will have to write one eventually, probably after finishing TuWiM and a configurator for TWM, which I write for the worst case scenario of all the other WMs and DEs abandoning X11 completely (and there's no chance in hell TWM will be ported to Wayland on account of a) no longer being worked on and b) being so intertwined with Xorg as to be shipped along with it as a default in certain distros).

why do you want a GUI???

and they probably already exist

@NexusSfan
Copy link

why do you want a GUI???

The IceWM manual is nice but I wish there was a GUI for the config.

@NexusSfan
Copy link

from what ive seen, gitea focuses on self-hosting, maybe we could make the xlibre repos on github mirrors to ones on gitea? to prevent any sudden vanishing of the project.

awesome idea !

Or check out Code.NoLog.CZ

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment