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From: Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Wayland Is Coming
Date: Sun, 12 May 2024 02:23:32 -0000 (UTC)
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On Fri, 10 May 2024 08:34:15 -0000 (UTC), Muttley wrote:

> On Thu, 9 May 2024 21:45:50 -0000 (UTC)
> Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 9 May 2024 08:19:47 -0000 (UTC), Muttley wrote:
>>
>>> All that[’]s needed is a thin layer above
>>> the framebuffer level to marshal graphics requests. Compositing isn't
>>> complicated.
>>
>>Go to the top of the class. That’s exactly what you get with Wayland.
> 
> If tha[’]s all it was it wouldn't still be in development after 15 years
> except for low level driver updates.

So do you think that “thin layer above the framebuffer level”, which 
supposedly is “all that’s needed”, is still not ready for prime-time? You 
think maybe it turned out to be harder to come up with than you thought?

>>> My point was why should I have to pick a specific library to learn
>>> that may well fall out of fashion when X11 provides an API thats been
>>> standardised for decades.
>>
>>You mean the X11 graphics API has been stagnant for decades. It’s just
>>useless baggage by this point.
> 
> Or possibly it[’]s stagnant because it works.

No, it’s stagnant because it’s been overtaken by other, far superior 
graphics APIs. Like Display PostScript, OpenGL, Cairo, Vulkan ...

Basically, the X11 developers gave up on enhancing their graphics API 
years, decades ago. And since then, most proper GUIs have been using their 
X windows as little more than compositing framebuffers anyway, with all 
the non-trivial rendering happening through those other APIs.

(Yes, I mentioned Display PostScript, which is long-defunct in itself. 
That was to show you how long ago it was realized that the X graphics API 
just wasn’t keeping up.)

> Change for changes sake is a waste of everyones time and effort. Pity no
> one tells this to the Windows GUI team.

This is why, on Linux, you have a choice.