Fedora is considering shipping future versions without X11 but with Wayland

Fedora is considering removing support for X11 from future versions of Gnome. The developers ask that question after KDE Plasma 6.0 already shipped with only X11 alternative Wayland.

The developers of the Linux distro have created an issue in which they ask users and other developers whether display server package X11 should still be used in future versions of the distro. “Wayland has been our standard for a long time and has now matured,” the developers write. “At the same time, X11 is no longer subjected to the tests it deserves. Moreover, it puts additional pressure on resources.” The developers wonder whether future versions should ship without X11.

It is still a proposal and is not a done deal. Developers seem to have different views on this, but some of them note that a number of applications such as GPU management for Nvidia and 10bit color support still require X11. The Fedora developers believe that X11 can be replaced by Wayland. X11 is still mainly used in Gnome, but the alternative Wayland has been gaining ground for years. In an upcoming version, Fedora 40, KDE will be released with Plasma 6.0. It no longer uses X11 at all. KDE Plasma version 6 appeared to be ready for testing earlier this year.