this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2024
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Linux

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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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[–] d_k_bo@feddit.de 32 points 6 months ago (10 children)

Wayland monolith

There seems to be misunderstanding about what Wayland is.

Wayland is set of protocols. They are implemented by wayland servers (compositors) and wayland clients (applications) themselves. There is no single "wayland binary" like in the X11 days. Servers or clients may choose to implement or not implement a specific protocol.

[–] NekkoDroid@programming.dev 3 points 6 months ago (4 children)

I think what they meant is that there are people that think: "Wayland is too fragmented, there should be 1 'Wayland Compositor' and the rest should be window managers"

[–] Shareni@programming.dev 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Nope, I meant that the wayland compositors are inflexible monoliths that are so tightly integrated into a DE that they can't be replaced. Xorg might be bloated, but it follows the UNIX philosophy closely enough that each part of the stack above xorg can be trivially replaced.

[–] NekkoDroid@programming.dev 8 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I guess my interpretation was too charitable.

Nothing in the protocol prevents you from splitting the server from the window manager, just everyone implementing the wayland server protocol didn't see any benefit in splitting it out.

[–] Shareni@programming.dev 1 points 6 months ago

Thanks I didn't know that. Arcan seems to have kept WM's separate.

[–] Shareni@programming.dev 1 points 6 months ago

Thanks I didn't know that. Arcan seems to have kept WM's separate.

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