Wayland vs. X11: What's Holding Back Broader Adoption?

View original discussion on Hacker News

A recent Hacker News discussion explored the perennial question: when will Wayland finally eclipse X11 in usage across the Linux ecosystem? The original poster kicked off the conversation by citing figures suggesting X11 still holds a dominant 80-93% usage share, expressing a desire for Wayland to gain more traction while acknowledging that some of Wayland's security-focused design choices hinder compatibility with tools reliant on X11's more permissive nature.

The Current State: A Tale of Two Realities?

A significant point of contention in the discussion was the actual current usage statistics. Several commenters questioned the OP's high X11 figures, with some anecdotally feeling Wayland already constitutes the majority, particularly on desktop systems. One user mentioned a hardware survey indicating over 50% Wayland usage months ago, suggesting that high X11 numbers might be skewed by legacy or embedded systems that aren't primary targets for new Wayland development. The consensus leaned towards Wayland being the default and thus more prevalent on updated desktop distributions like Fedora and Ubuntu, which command a substantial portion of the Linux desktop market.

Hurdles on the Road to Wayland Dominance

Despite progress, several barriers to universal Wayland adoption were highlighted:

Missing Features and X11 Habits: Long-time X11 users miss specific functionalities. xkill was a commonly cited example, as was the seamless network transparency of X forwarding (ssh -X), which some find clunkier or less reliable under Wayland. The OP also alluded to "tools and hacks that rely on X's inherent security holes," which Wayland, by design, aims to prevent, creating a gap for users who depend on such tools.
Desktop Environment Readiness: Full Wayland support isn't universal across all desktop environments. One XFCE user explicitly stated they would not switch until XFCE fully supports Wayland, illustrating how DE loyalty can tether users to X11.
Hardware Compatibility and Performance: Performance, especially on older GPUs (like a mentioned Quadro P400), remains a concern, with X11 often feeling "snappier." Even on newer hardware, some users report Wayland being slower, though animations might be smoother. Peripherals like DisplayLink docking stations were also implicated in past stability issues for some users.
Stability and Bugs: Reports of instability, crashes (one user described Wayland itself crashing when dragging a URL between windows), and regressions (like screen brightness resetting on KDE) demonstrate that the Wayland experience isn't uniformly smooth for everyone. While some users, particularly on KDE Plasma and GNOME with recent updates, report excellent stability, others continue to encounter deal-breaking bugs.
User Needs and Backward Compatibility: A recurring sentiment was that Wayland development sometimes prioritizes its architectural goals over immediate user needs and backward compatibility. One commenter bluntly stated, "Wayland breaks my working system. That is a good definition of badly engineered. If you want adoption, cowboy up and make it backward compatible."

Drivers of Wayland Adoption

Conversely, several factors are pushing Wayland forward:

Distro Defaults: The decision by major distributions like Fedora and Ubuntu to make Wayland the default session is a powerful driver. Many users adopt it simply because it's what their system provides out-of-the-box.
Improving DE Support: Users on GNOME and KDE (especially with recent versions like Plasma) reported positive experiences, indicating significant improvements in Wayland support within these major desktop environments.

The Path Forward

The discussion suggests that for Wayland to achieve the 50% mark universally and eventually eclipse X11, continued improvements in stability, hardware compatibility (especially for older or niche hardware), and feature parity for crucial X11 workflows are essential. Addressing the practical pain points of users migrating from X11, even if it means finding new, Wayland-native solutions for old problems, will be key to winning over the remaining X11 holdouts. The journey is ongoing, with progress evident but work still to be done to meet the diverse needs of the Linux user base.