Canonical Ditches Wayland for Mir
Canonical ditches Wayland for a brand new graphics stack.
Canonical founder and Ubuntu godfather Mark Shuttleworth has announced that the controversial new Mir graphics stack will appear in the upcoming Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" release. Canonical announced the Mir project in March, stating that the classic X graphics system was out of date and Ubuntu needed its own alternative.
At the time of the announcement, many in the FOSS community expressed concern about Ubuntu abandoning the Wayland graphics system, which many Linux developers regard as the next-generation Free graphics system. Canonical, however, wanted a graphics system they could build to their own specifications. The Mir project is further evolution of the effort Canonical began with the Unity desktop -- a quest for a system that is easily adaptable to a broad range of hardware and display systems so that the same tools and components will run on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop with minimal adaptation. If the Unity experience is any indication, Canonical stands ready to withstand significant criticism to forge ahead with their plan.
According to Shuttleworth, "We take a lot of flack for every decision we make in Ubuntu, because so many people are affected. But I remind the team -- failure to act when action is needed is as much a failure as taking the wrong kind of action might be. We have a responsibility to our users to explore difficult territory. Many difficult choices in the past are the bedrock of our usefulness to a very wide audience today."
Ubuntu's twin sister, the KDE-based Kubuntu project, has already announced that it does not intend to follow Ubuntu to Mir but will, instead, retain X for the 13.10 release, then migrate to Wayland for future releases. The popular Gnome and KDE desktop systems both support Wayland, which recently rolled out the new Wayland 1.2 release.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Fedora Asahi 40 Remix Available for Macs with Apple Silicon
If you've been anticipating KDE's Plasma 6 for your Apple Silicon-powered Mac, then you're in luck.
-
Red Hat Adds New Deployment Option for Enterprise Linux Platforms
Red Hat has re-imagined enterprise Linux for an AI future with Image Mode.
-
OSJH and LPI Release 2024 Open Source Pros Job Survey Results
See what open source professionals look for in a new role.
-
Proton 9.0-1 Released to Improve Gaming with Steam
The latest release of Proton 9 adds several improvements and fixes an issue that has been problematic for Linux users.
-
So Long Neofetch and Thanks for the Info
Today is a day that every Linux user who enjoys bragging about their system(s) will mourn, as Neofetch has come to an end.
-
Ubuntu 24.04 Comes with a “Flaw"
If you're thinking you might want to upgrade from your current Ubuntu release to the latest, there's something you might want to consider before doing so.
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.