Wayland is not ready as a 1:1 compatible Xorg replacement just yet
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2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment order> Wayland solves no issues I have This is a common sentiment, but it is kind of funny. Because software engineers working for companies will know the struggle of trying to justify reducing technical debt, improving security practices, etc. but fail to see why these things are useful to them personally when the tables turn. Wayland indeed “breaks a lot of shit” but it’s not an accident or done due to incompetence. Also, it’s worth noting that since there is…
I think it's fascinating how general opinion seems to be becoming more neutral on Wayland compared to the rah-rah days I remember, probably around 2018-19. I personally could never use Wayland - I was pretty set in my i3 config, so GNOME switching to Wayland didn't affect me, but I always had PCs with nvidia GPUS (I like playing games, sue me) and while admittedly, nvidia wasn't working on good faith either, I don't think nvidia users deserved the attitude…
Re-configuring everything so screen sharing works is obnoxious, sure. You know what's way more obnoxious? Every single website having full access to every single pixel and keystroke going into every single application on my entire machine, which is the only reason screen sharing is "functional" on X. And on Windows, for that matter. Also, if your auto-keyboard tool was hooking in using X debug extensions like xdotool did, your tool was broken and wrong in the first place. The correct…
I don't know about "Wayland breaks everything", bit sensationalistic maybe... I've been on Arch + Gnome for 6-7 years by now, started on Xorg and today using Wayland 24/7. I tried moving to Wayland maybe once a year or something like that from when it was available, until last year when I had less troubles than I had benefits when I tried it. But before that, the issues were plenty. Probably the biggest change is how much smoother everything is…
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 3
- Total points
- 403
- Total comments
- 869
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-02-02 | Wayland is not ready as a 1:1 compatible Xorg replacement just yetFirst breakout · Best thread | todsacerdoti | 195 | 411 |
| 2022-07-01 | Wayland is not ready as a 1:1 compatible Xorg replacement just yet | pmoriarty | 117 | 344 |
| 2023-10-03 | Boycott Wayland. It breaks everything | sbt567 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023-11-09 | Boycott Wayland. It breaks everything | jhoechtl | 49 | 63 |
| 2025-06-14 | Think twice before abandoning Xorg. Wayland breaks everythingHall induction | gala8y | 5 | 15 |
| 2025-09-12 | Think twice before abandoning X11. Wayland breaks everythingLatest 20+ point return | em-bee | 36 | 36 |