Wayland is a display server protocol that aims to provide a smoother, faster, and more secure user experience. In this article, we will look at how Wayland achieved many successes in 2023 and why it is the preferred choice for many Linux users and developers.

How Wayland Became the Preferred Display Server Protocol in 2023

Wayland is a display server protocol that aims to provide a smoother, faster, and more secure user experience. Unlike the traditional Xorg display server, which handles both input and output events, Wayland delegates the output to a compositor and the input to the clients. This reduces the complexity and overhead of the display server and allows for better performance and security.

Wayland has been in development since 2008, but it was not until 2023 that it gained widespread adoption and recognition. In this article, we will look at how Wayland achieved many successes in 2023 and why it is the preferred choice for many Linux users and developers.

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Wayland became the default display server for major Linux desktop environments

One of the biggest milestones for Wayland in 2023 was that it became the default display server for major Linux desktop environments, such as GNOME, KDE Plasma, and Sway. These desktop environments have been working on supporting Wayland for several years, but they faced many challenges and limitations, such as compatibility issues, missing features, and bugs.

However, in 2023, these desktop environments finally reached a stable and mature state, where they could offer a full-featured and reliable Wayland experience to their users. They also improved their support for various hardware and software components, such as graphics drivers, input devices, screen sharing, and remote desktop. As a result, many Linux users switched to Wayland as their default display server, and enjoyed the benefits of a smoother, faster, and more secure user interface.

Wayland received more support from Linux applications and games

Another success for Wayland in 2023 was that it received more support from Linux applications and games. Previously, many Linux applications and games relied on Xorg-specific features or libraries, such as X11, Xlib, or XCB. This made them incompatible or buggy with Wayland, and required the use of an Xwayland layer, which emulates Xorg on top of Wayland. This layer added extra overhead and reduced the performance and security of Wayland.

However, in 2023, many Linux applications and games started to adopt native Wayland support, by using Wayland-specific features or libraries, such as EGL, GTK, or Qt. This made them more efficient and compatible with Wayland, and eliminated the need for the Xwayland layer. Some examples of Linux applications and games that added native Wayland support in 2023 are Firefox, Chromium, GIMP, Blender, Steam, and Dota 2.

Wayland gained more popularity and recognition among Linux users and developers

The final success for Wayland in 2023 was that it gained more popularity and recognition among Linux users and developers. Thanks to the efforts of the Wayland developers and the Linux community, Wayland became more accessible and user-friendly, and received more positive feedback and reviews. Many Linux users and developers praised Wayland for its advantages over Xorg, such as:

• Better performance and responsiveness, especially for high-resolution and high-refresh-rate monitors
• Better security and isolation, as Wayland clients cannot access or interfere with each other’s data or input
• Better support for multi-monitor and mixed-DPI setups, as Wayland allows each monitor to have its own resolution and scaling factor
• Better support for touchscreens, tablets, and styluses, as Wayland provides more accurate and smooth input handling

Wayland also received more media coverage and attention, as many Linux news outlets, blogs, podcasts, and videos featured Wayland as a topic of discussion and analysis. Wayland also won several awards and honors, such as the Linux Journal Readers’ Choice Award for Best Display Server, and the Linux Format Magazine Editor’s Choice Award for Best Linux Innovation.

Conclusion

Wayland is a display server protocol that aims to provide a smoother, faster, and more secure user experience. In 2023, Wayland achieved many successes, such as becoming the default display server for major Linux desktop environments, receiving more support from Linux applications and games, and gaining more popularity and recognition among Linux users and developers. Wayland is now the preferred display server protocol for many Linux users and developers, and it is expected to continue to grow and improve in the future.