KDE Plasma 6 Transition to Wayland: Key Changes and User Concerns

Issue #347: Plasma 6 is Wayland only - No X11 for Plasma 6 - SIG 🔗

Plasma 6 is transitioning to be exclusively Wayland-based, moving away from X11 due to the increasing support for Wayland and the diminishing maintenance of Xorg. This shift aims to reduce the support burden on developers and focus on enhancing the Plasma experience. Although X11 applications will still run via Xwayland, Plasma 6.0 will not be backported to existing Fedora releases, and discussions are ongoing about the potential implications for users reliant on X11. Concerns have been raised regarding user backlash, as many still depend on X11 for various functionalities. The KDE team emphasizes the need for extensive discussions and planning before making this significant change.

Key Points:

Plasma 6 will only support Wayland, eliminating X11.
X11 applications can still run using Xwayland.
No backporting of Plasma 6.0 to current Fedora releases.
Ongoing discussions about user concerns regarding the transition.
Developers aim to focus on improving the Wayland experience.

What is the main reason for switching to Wayland for Plasma 6?

The main reason for the switch is to reduce the support burden associated with maintaining Xorg, allowing developers to focus on enhancing the KDE Plasma experience.

Will X11 applications still work in Plasma 6?

Yes, X11 applications will still be able to run in Plasma 6 through Xwayland.

What are the concerns regarding the transition to Wayland?

There are concerns about excluding users who still rely on X11 for various functionalities, as well as the potential for negative feedback from the user community.