X11 in Gnome is history - backend removed
It had been hinted at, and now the developers have gone through with it: They have removed the X11 backend code from Gnome.
(Image: David Wolski)
The Gnome developers have made a clean slate and deleted the code of the X11 backend from the development branch. The move is not unexpected. The programmers had already deactivated the X11 session meanwhile.
In the recently released Gnome 49 the developers had adjusted the default settings regarding X11 the developers adjusted the default settings regarding X11. As a result, the Gnome Display Manager (GDM) no longer offers an X11 session. However, distributions could still fall back on it, as the code was still included.
X11 backend removal merged
However, a few hours ago, the developers brought the process initiated four months ago in the Gnome 50 development branch to a close. Shortly after noon on November 5th, this sealed the end of X11 in Gnome.
As a result, Gnome 50 will only rely on Wayland for the desktop environment. The major Linux distributions are also on this path. The recently released Fedora 43 removed X11 from the Gnome session. However, the maintainers there have not yet taken the final step for complete removal from the Gnome Display Manager. Ubuntu 25.10 handles it the same way. Compatibility with X11 applications is then provided by XWayland.
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A few minor changes still need to be made by the developers, but they do not see them as major showstoppers. "I think it makes sense to merge this early and deal with the remaining 'hanging fruits' later," wrote developer Carlos Garnacho.
Projects like Wayback are preparing to replace Xorg. This is a compositor based on the more modern Wayland protocol, which also enables desktop environments such as Mate or Xfce to operate without the outdated and no longer actively developed Xorg. One developer is trying to breathe significant new life into the development through the fork Xlibre of the Xserver from Xorg. However, the maintainer of Xlibre has repeatedly attracted criticism from many sides for statements and approaches from the politically right-wing spectrum. According to the project, 30 maintainers have now joined, contributing code changes.
(dmk)
