this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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To add to this: Wayland is a bit different than X11. In X11 you had split responsibilities: Compositing, X Server and Window Manager. Wayland only refers to the protocol and compositors implement that protocol. So Hyprland is a compositor which implements the wayland protocol. The compositor has a lot more responsibilities in wayland since it needs to do everything itself which in X11 was split across different applications.
Here's a neat site for the wayland protocol: https://wayland.app/protocols/
So what's the difference between a compositor, a window manager and a desktop environment? I'm still a bit confused about the whole thing.
Desktop environment is like traditional windows desktop, everything included. It has stuff like notification daemons, advanced settings, toolbars, task manager and so on.
Window manager let's you manage windows but often doesn't have it's own toolbar, notification demon, task manager and other things. People who run window managers are picking their own toolbar software, their own notification daemon and so on. They want a much more customizable personal experience, often heavily themed as well. Usually a window manager is also faster than a desktop environment since it does less things.
Compositor is what gives drop shadows, transparency and other visual effects. Its often built into desktop environments but is often missing from window managers, but not always. When it's missing, people install one of their own. There are a few popular choices.
Examples of desktop environments: Gnome, KDE Example of window managers: Sway, Hyprland, i3, xfce, awesome wm
Thank you.