this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2026
40 points (97.6% liked)
linux4noobs
4035 readers
118 users here now
linux4noobs
Noob Friendly, Expert Enabling
Whether you're a seasoned pro or the noobiest of noobs, you've found the right place for Linux support and information. With a dedication to supporting free and open source software, this community aims to ensure Linux fits your needs and works for you. From troubleshooting to tutorials, practical tips, news and more, all aspects of Linux are warmly welcomed. Join a community of like-minded enthusiasts and professionals driving Linux's ongoing evolution.
Seeking Support?
- Mention your Linux distro and relevant system details.
- Describe what you've tried so far.
- Share your solution even if you found it yourself.
- Do not delete your post. This allows other people to see possible solutions if they have a similar problem.
- Properly format any scripts, code, logs, or error messages.
- Be mindful to omit any sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, IP addresses, etc.
Community Rules
- Keep discussions respectful and amiable. This community is a space where individuals may freely inquire, exchange thoughts, express viewpoints, and extend help without encountering belittlement. We were all a noob at one point. Differing opinions and ideas is a normal part of discourse, but it must remain civil. Offenders will be warned and/or removed.
- Posts must be Linux oriented
- Spam or affiliate links will not be tolerated.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Shortlist of traditional distros, ordered roughly in descending order:
~~Shortlist of~~ Only^[Technically, any of uBlue's distros qualifies. But Bazzite is a lot more popular than the others. Hence you'll have an easier time finding resources for it.] recommendation for atomic distros:
As for deciding between a traditional or atomic distro, I'd personally suggest to try out Bazzite first. And refer to their documentation whenever something comes up during initial setup. If at any point, you're not able to get it to work even with the help of its community โ^[I know using the em dash here makes me look sus AF, but I can assure the reader that no LLMs were used in the creation of this writing.] be it through their Discord, Discourse or sub~~reddit~~ โ then simply pivot to the traditional distros.
what is wayland and how important is it?
If you have HDR monitors or high resolution screens, that need fractional scaling youโre better off with Wayland and KDE.
Basically, whenever an app has a GUI it wants to display, it communicates that to 'the system' with all the necessary details. After which 'the system' does the rendering and whatnot. Wayland is a protocol that defines a set of rules on how this interaction should take place. Hence, technically, it is only (the defining) part of the modern solution.
Very. Basically, either it or its 'predecessor'^[The term is used loosely here, because there's a very big difference between the two.] X11 is involved whenever you want to display/render anything^[Which, to be clear, happens literally all the time. Unless your display needs don't go beyond what was already available on MS-DOS*.] on desktop Linux. As X11 has been abandoned in favor of Wayland, some modern features like HDR or VRR are only found on the latter. On the other hand, I believe Wayland was never meant to offer full feature-parity with X11. Hence, some unsupported edge cases may continue to exist indefinitely. Thankfully, it has come a long way. What remains are some concerns related to accessibility AND the adjustment^[Like, how only very recently Electron got to become proper Wayland-native. Note that Xwayland is included with Wayland as a compatibility layer whenever something is not Wayland-native yet.] of the surrounding ecosystem.
Thank you for the intro, that helped. Sounds like Mint not having it is relevant
Not very. X11 is still widely used and works fine. Wayland is the future, but you'll probably be fine either way.
I copied this table from here: https://www.linuxteck.com/x11-vs-wayland/
| Feature | X11 | Wayland | |
|
|
| | Architecture | Multi-program chain (X Server + WM + Compositor) | Single unified Compositor handles everything | | Render Method | RAM multi-copy โ pixels duplicated per frame | Zero-copy GPU โ same buffer start to finish | | Security Model | Open trust โ any app sees all input and screen | Isolated by design โ apps see only their own window | | Screen Tearing | Common โ vsync not guaranteed by protocol | Eliminated โ compositor controls frame delivery | | HiDPI / Fractional Scaling | Inconsistent โ requires per-app configuration | Per-display โ clean scaling built into protocol | | Multi-Monitor HDR | Limited โ retrofitted support only | Full support โ designed from the ground up | | SSH Remote Display | Native โ X forwarding works out of the box | Needs external tools (e.g. Xwayland, RDP) | | GUI Automation Tools | Rich ecosystem โ xdotool, wmctrl, AutoKey | Limited โ protocol restricts cross-app access | | Legacy App Support | Full native support | XWayland compatibility bridge | | NVIDIA Driver Support | Stable โ long-established | Good โ driver series 495 and above | | Battery Efficiency | Higher overhead โ extra RAM copies per frame | Lower overhead โ GPU buffer reuse | | Development Status | Maintenance-only since 2024 | Actively developed โ expanding scope |
display manager. it'll cause issues with switching applications and rendering and such. Wayland is the direction everyone is going.
Wayland is replacing X11 at a rate where quality control isn't there.