Xfce Embarks on Major Wayland Journey with Xfwl4

Xfce, one of the most beloved lightweight desktop environments in the Linux ecosystem, is making a significant investment in its future with the development of Xfwl4, a brand-new Wayland compositor. This initiative, announced by the Xfce team, represents a major shift in how the project approaches modern display server technology.

Community-Funded Innovation

The development of Xfwl4 is being made possible through community donations, with funds allocated to support a longtime core Xfce developer working full-time on this ambitious project. This approach demonstrates the strong community backing behind Xfce and the collective recognition that Wayland support is crucial for the desktop environment's long-term viability.

Building from the Ground Up

Unlike many other desktop environments that have adapted their existing X11 compositors for Wayland compatibility, Xfce is taking a different approach with Xfwl4. The new compositor is being written entirely in Rust and is not based on the existing Xfwm4 codebase. This decision allows the team to design Xfwl4 specifically for Wayland's architecture from the ground up, potentially avoiding the technical debt and architectural limitations that can come from retrofitting older code.

The choice of Rust as the programming language is particularly noteworthy. Rust's memory safety guarantees and modern tooling make it an increasingly popular choice for systems programming, especially for security-critical components like display servers. This decision aligns Xfce with other modern desktop environments that have embraced Rust for new development.

Leveraging Smithay for Foundation

Xfwl4 will rely on Smithay, a Rust library designed specifically for building Wayland compositors. Smithay provides the low-level infrastructure needed to handle Wayland protocols, input devices, and output management, allowing the Xfce team to focus on the higher-level compositor logic and Xfce-specific features. This approach follows a growing trend in the Wayland ecosystem where compositors are built on top of shared libraries rather than reinventing the wheel.

Feature Parity Goals

The Xfce team has made it clear that Xfwl4 is intended to provide the same functionality and behavior as Xfwm4, ensuring feature parity between the X11 and Wayland versions of the desktop environment. This commitment is crucial for users who rely on Xfce's specific window management features, keyboard shortcuts, and desktop behaviors. The goal is to make the transition between X11 and Wayland as seamless as possible for end users.

Wayland Roadmap

Beyond basic compositor functionality, the Xfce team has outlined several important features for Xfwl4's development roadmap:

• XWayland support: Essential for running legacy X11 applications on Wayland
• xdg-session-management protocol: For proper session handling and management
• Various protocol improvements: To enhance the overall Xfce experience on Wayland

These features demonstrate that the team is thinking comprehensively about the Wayland transition, not just focusing on basic display functionality but also on the broader desktop experience.

Development Progress and Community Involvement

The Xfwl4 code is publicly available on gitlab.xfce.org, allowing interested developers and users to follow along with the development process. This transparency is consistent with Xfce's open development model and provides opportunities for community feedback and contributions.

Why This Matters

For the Linux desktop ecosystem, Xfce's investment in Wayland support is significant. As more distributions move toward Wayland as the default display server, having a lightweight, stable, and fully-featured desktop environment becomes increasingly important. Xfce has long been a popular choice for users seeking a balance between functionality and resource efficiency, particularly on older hardware or systems where performance is a priority.

The development of Xfwl4 ensures that Xfce users will have a modern, Wayland-native option that maintains the desktop environment's characteristic efficiency and simplicity. This is especially important as the Linux desktop continues to evolve and as more applications and toolkits embrace Wayland-native development.

Looking Ahead

While the timeline for Xfwl4's completion and integration into stable Xfce releases hasn't been specified, the project represents a clear commitment from the Xfce team to the future of the desktop environment. As development progresses, users can expect regular updates and potentially experimental Wayland sessions in future Xfce releases.

This initiative also highlights the broader trend in the Linux desktop world toward Wayland adoption and the importance of community support in driving open-source development forward. Xfce's approach—combining community funding, modern development practices, and a commitment to feature parity—provides a model for how traditional desktop environments can successfully navigate the transition to newer technologies while maintaining their core identity and user base.

For Xfce users and the broader Linux community, Xfwl4 represents not just a new compositor, but an investment in the continued relevance and evolution of one of the desktop's most enduring environments.