How to Start Wayland?

Farley Flud

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Feb 10, 2024, 11:19:42 AMFeb 10

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I am interested in trying out Wayland.

On Gentoo it is very simple. Just emerge Wayland and associated
programs (Xwayland, etc.) and then add "wayland" to the global
USE flags which will re-build all software that has wayland
capability (e.g. GTK+, Qt).

But then what? How do I start Wayland?

Currently, I boot into the Linux console and then start X Window
using the "startx" command. This, along with info in .xinitrc
and .Xresources will bring up X.

How do I do the same for Wayland?

This web site just says to start the wayland compositor and that
will bring up Wayland:

https://www.fosskers.ca/en/blog/wayland

"Now exit whatever desktop environment/window manager you're in,
and drop down to your basic login terminal. From here, run Sway
and Sway should start. Congratulations, you're running Wayland!"

"Sway" is the compositor which he uses but will any other compositor
do the same?

Please note that I need an answer from a GNU/Linux expert.
I don't use GNOME/KDE or any display managers. I need to
know the basic commands that will bring up Wayland from the
Linux console.

David W. Hodgins

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Feb 10, 2024, 12:38:27 PMFeb 10

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On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 11:19:39 -0500, Farley Flud <f...@linux.rocks> wrote:

> I am interested in trying out Wayland.
>
> On Gentoo it is very simple. Just emerge Wayland and associated
> programs (Xwayland, etc.) and then add "wayland" to the global
> USE flags which will re-build all software that has wayland
> capability (e.g. GTK+, Qt).
>
> But then what? How do I start Wayland?
>
> Currently, I boot into the Linux console and then start X Window
> using the "startx" command. This, along with info in .xinitrc
> and .Xresources will bring up X.
>
> How do I do the same for Wayland?

Instead of running "startx startkde" or "startx startgnome", run
for kde plasma run "XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland dbus-run-session startplasma-wayland",
for gnome run "XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland dbus-run-session gnome-session".

I too prefer to boot to run level 3 (aka multi-user.target under systemd). Not
using a display manager like sddm or gdm means one less thing that can go wrong.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

Farley Flud

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Feb 10, 2024, 4:31:05 PMFeb 10

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On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 12:37:02 -0500, David W. Hodgins wrote:

>
> Instead of running "startx startkde" or "startx startgnome", run
> for kde plasma run "XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland dbus-run-session startplasma-wayland",
> for gnome run "XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland dbus-run-session gnome-session".
>

Thanks for you response, but I should have indicated that I don't use
either GNOME or KDE. I currently use only the fvwm3 window manager under
X.

Both GNOME and KDE have their own Wayland compositors. But I want to begin
with the independent Hikari compositor:

https://hikari.acmelabs.space/

Is starting Hikari from the Linux console sufficient to bring up Wayland?

Mike Easter

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Feb 10, 2024, 5:03:39 PMFeb 10

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Farley Flud wrote:
> I currently use only the fvwm3 window manager under X.

This long '24 Feb msg would suggest that is a no-go for wayland.

https://www.mail-archive.com/fv...@fvwm.org/msg03866.html

> So, a "port" of fvwm to Wayland? No. Impossible.

--
Mike Easter

Mike Easter

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Feb 10, 2024, 5:46:14 PMFeb 10

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Mike Easter wrote:
> Farley Flud wrote:
>> I currently use only the fvwm3 window manager under X.
>
> This long '24 Feb msg would suggest that is a no-go for wayland.
>

You could go to sway which is like i3.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/sway

--
Mike Easter

David W. Hodgins

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Feb 10, 2024, 7:10:26 PMFeb 10

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As far as I know, Gnome and KDE Plasma are the only desktop environments Mageia 9
has that currently support wayland, and sddm/gdm the only desktop managers.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

MarioCCCP

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Feb 13, 2024, 7:23:09 AMFeb 13

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I run Debian Bookworm with xfce 4.18.1
what commands should I give to discover whether I am still
using X-server or wayland ?
tnx in advance.

--
1) Resistere, resistere, resistere.
2) Se tutti pagano le tasse, le tasse le pagano tutti
MarioCPPP

MarioCCCP

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Feb 13, 2024, 7:25:28 AMFeb 13

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mmm, running INXI -G I possibly just got an answer.
Here the output
inxi -G
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel CoffeeLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630]
driver: i915 v: kernel
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 driver: X: loaded:
modesetting
unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 resolution:
3840x2160~60Hz
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel UHD
Graphics 630 (CFL GT2)

So it seems (to me) I am still relying on X-server, am I right ?

David W. Hodgins

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Feb 13, 2024, 1:27:13 PMFeb 13

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On Tue, 13 Feb 2024 07:25:24 -0500, MarioCCCP <NoliMihiFran...@libero.it> wrote:
<snip>

> mmm, running INXI -G I possibly just got an answer.
> Here the output
> inxi -G
> Graphics:
> Device-1: Intel CoffeeLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630]
> driver: i915 v: kernel
> Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 driver: X: loaded:
> modesetting
> unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 resolution:
> 3840x2160~60Hz
> API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel UHD
> Graphics 630 (CFL GT2)
>
> So it seems (to me) I am still relying on X-server, am I right ?

Yes. X11/Xorg will remain available for years (possibly decades), as wayland does
not work on some older hardware, and many desktop environments and applications
have not be changed to support it yet.

Regards, Dave Hodgins