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howtos:window_managers:running_xorg_environments_in_xwayland [2024/01/21 08:10 (UTC)] – [Caveats] Fix markdown pghvlaanshowtos:window_managers:running_xorg_environments_in_xwayland [2024/01/25 11:06 (UTC)] (current) – [Caveats] Wrong file path. pghvlaans
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 +====== Running Xorg Environments in Xwayland ======
 +This is a how-to guide for running an Xorg window manager or desktop environment in a Wayland compositor((In Wayland terms, the "compositor" is the program responsible for displaying and managing windows. KWin is the only Wayland compositor included in Slackware 15.0.)) on Slackware 15.0 and beyond.
  
 +At the time of writing (December 2023), this is a purely academic question for most -- if not all -- users. As both KDE Plasma and Xfce continue to move in the direction of Wayland, however, it is not impossible that full X servers become unavailable on Slackware in future years. Xwayland provides a workaround, if an imperfect one. The process of running an Xorg environment from inside a rootful(("Rootful" here means that the Wayland compositor does not manage the Xwayland window.)) Xwayland session is straightforward:
 +
 +  * Choosing a Wayland compositor \\
 +  * Configuration \\
 +  * Running the Wayland compositor \\
 +  * Starting the Xorg environment on Xwayland \\
 +
 +All outside packages mentioned here can be found on [[https://slackbuilds.org|SlackBuilds Online]].
 +
 +> Being able to read xorg.conf is not one my goals, nor achieving a bug-for-bug compatibility with Xorg - Xwayland with !901 (merged) allows to run a full X11 desktop, even the most legacy ones  (I demoed it internally here using CDE from an XDMCP remote connection for the fun 😉).((Olivier Fourdan, xserver issue [[https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/xserver/-/issues/1332#note_1431672|#1332]]))
 +
 +==== Choosing a Wayland compositor ====
 +The following considerations are important in choosing a Wayland compositor to run the Xwayland server:
 +
 +  * Lightweight
 +  * Stacking window management
 +<note tip>The following two conditions can be ignored if the Xwayland version exceeds 22.1.3.</note>
 +  * Able to suppress client-side decorations
 +  * Compatible with [[https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/desktop/wlroots/|wlroots]] for [[https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/desktop/wlr-randr/|wlr-randr]], a drop-in xrandr replacement.
 +
 +This how-to will use [[https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/desktop/labwc/|labwc]] as an example. labwc is a lightweight, wlroots-based compositor with OpenBox-style configuration.
 +
 +==== General Configuration ====
 +General configuration requirements are limited. It is only necessary to ensure that Xwayland-capable programs open under Xwayland rather than Wayland, and that startx does something productive.
 +
 +=== Forcing Xwayland ===
 +Any program opening in Wayland mode will be managed by the Wayland compositor directly. This can result in the appearance of poorly-behaved windows with incorrect decoration and the non-appearance of system tray items. Place the following lines in ''/etc/environment''((Any file that controls the user profile can be used.))  to control gtk and qt applications :
 +
 +  GDK_BACKEND=x11
 +  QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb
 +
 +For X keyboard maps other than US, it may also be necessary to specify a keymap here:
 +
 +  XKB_DEFAULT_LAYOUT=jp    # e.g.
 +
 +=== startx ===
 +Instructions for starting an X session should be contained in ''$HOME/.xinitrc'' because startx will launch Xwayland. xwmconfig can set up an xinitrc file for the preferred Xorg environment if need be.
 +
 +==== Configuring labwc ====
 +=== For Slackware 15.0 ===
 +Create an autostart file at ''$HOME/.config/labwc/autostart'' to launch an Xwayland server with startx:
 +
 +  #!/bin/sh
 +  
 +  DISPLAY=:1 startx -- /usr/bin/Xwayland
 +
 +This variant closes labwc after quitting the Xorg environment to return cleanly to tty or the display manager:
 +
 +  #!/bin/sh
 +  
 +  DISPLAY=:1 startx -- /usr/bin/Xwayland &
 +  wmpid=$!
 +  wait $wmpid
 +  pkill -x labwc
 +
 +To stop labwc from decorating the Xwayland server window, write the following to a file at ''$HOME/.config/labwc/rc.xml'':
 +
 +  <labwc_config>
 +    <core>
 +      <decoration>client</decoration>
 +    </core>
 +  </labwc_config>
 +  
 +If auto-starting xset tends to fail, try adding a few seconds of sleep before startx.
 +
 +=== For Other Versions ===
 +These changes reflect post-15.0 Xwayland development:
 +
 +  * Rootful Xwayland windows are no longer decorated, so ''rc.xml'' is unnecessary. 
 +  * The initial geometry of the Xwayland server must be specified. Replace the Xwayland line in the autostart script above with the following:
 +
 +  DISPLAY=:1 startx -- /usr/bin/Xwayland -fullscreen -geometry 1920x1200
 +
 +Ideally, the ''geometry'' option will match the dimensions of the monitor. xrandr can change the resolution afterwards.
 +==== Running ====
 +The Wayland compositor should be known to the display manager for runlevel 4 users, assuming that its package includes a desktop file. Runlevel 3 users can run the Wayland compositor directly from the command line:
 +
 +  $ /usr/bin/labwc
 +
 +Once the autostart script has started the Xorg environment, the following commands can verify that the process worked:
 +  $ pgrep Xorg
 +  $ pgrep Xwayland
 +If there is at least one Xwayland process and no Xorg process, feel free to take a screenshot (optional) and tell your friends (not advised).
 +
 +==== Caveats ====
 +The following caveats bear mentioning:
 +
 +  * Mouse pointer warping does not work. EdgeScroll in Fvwm is an example of an impacted feature.
 +  * xrandr is non-functional in Xwayland versions before 22.1.3, and an extra program such as wlr-randr would be needed for screen management. Effectively, this restricts the choice of compositor to those based on wlroots.
 +  * GPU memory usage is slightly higher relative to running an ordinary xserver.
 +  * Wayland-only programs and any other program that runs in Wayland mode will be managed by the Wayland compositor rather than the X11 environment.
 +  * Neither xinput nor synclient will work to adjust input device settings; instead, use the file ''$HOME/.config/labwc/rc.xml''. See the ''LIBINPUT'' section in labwc-config(5) for details.
 +  * If an input device does not work in the chosen Wayland compositor, running an Xwayland server will not cause it to start working.
 +  * xbacklight does not work; echoing values to ''/sys/class/backlight/*/brightness'' may be a workaround, depending on the system.
 +  * If audio sharing fails, try using pipewire with [[https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/audio/wireplumber/|wireplumber]]((No separate package is needed on post-15.0 systems.)).
 +
 +The above list is non-exhaustive.
 +
 +====== Sources ======
 +  * Xwayland(1)
 +  * labwc(1)
 +  * labwc-config(5)
 +  * [[https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/xserver/-/issues/1332#note_1431672|xserver, Issue #1173: Xwayland: Improve rootfull mode for legacy X11 environments]]
 +
 +<!-- Please do not modify anything below, except adding new tags.-->
 +<!-- You must remove the tag-word "template" below before saving your new page -->
 +{{tag>howtos "window managers" "desktop environments" wayland xwayland xorg x11 labwc}}

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