this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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biggest ones I see:
There's a general feeling that Wayland is doing you a favor and that anything it breaks is someone else's problem, that we're supposed to ignore everything that's missing or malfunctioning or incomplete and just rejoice at the fact it works in very particular circumstances.
Look, I'm fully familiar with the "scratch an itch" approach to software development in FOSS... I'm not demanding anything from Wayland, I'm just saying it needs to work with the larger software ecosystem. You can't use a graphical server by itself.
If it's not working with desktop environments, not working with Nvidia, not working with keyboard/mouse configuration, not working with the clipboard, having issues with common software like browsers etc... what am I supposed to do about it?
I have to ask, you do understand that people aren't likely to ditch their entire DE setup and go buy another graphics card, which both work perfectly well with everything except Wayland... just for the privilege of using Wayland?
It would have to offer some outstanding feature to compel people to do this. But it offers nothing and is proud of it. I don't get it.
I'm a FOSS contributor myself and I know what it means to volunteer time and resources for the community. But the software needs to meet users in the middle.
The FOSS and Linux software scene is a meritocracy. Software rises to the top if it's truly useful and "Don't use it" in my experience is code-speak for "this software is a solution looking for a problem".
The Nvidia hurdle in particular is insurmountable. They haven't wavered in their stance on closed drivers in the last 20 years, they have no incentive to care about the Linux desktop, and yet they have 80% of this niche according to Steam. If Wayland intends to die on this hill it can order a headstone right now and save time.
If Wayland wants to be a hobby piece of software that scratches an itch for a couple of people, you're perfectly correct.
If it wants to displace Xorg, one of the most widely used pieces of software in the community, it's going to have to cater to the users' needs. And I do mean needs; a working DE is not a whim.
They can't act like the former and claim the latter. It just doesn't work that way. What good is Wayland if it won't work for the majority of people and will eventually languish in obscurity?