Reco (12020-12-21): > You're right. Xorg is a server, any window manager on top of it is > merely an X client (a special one, but an interchangeable client). > Wayland is not a server, it's a set of protocols. An implementation of > these protocols inherently provides a set of functions that are provided > by window manager on top of X, X itself, panel, copy-paste to name a > few. > Running a window manager in Xwayland is theoretically possible, but > practically it'll be worthless.
Being a server has nothing to do with allowing window managers or not, it is just a kind of RPC; X11 is a protocol, but it is designed like an API. The X11 Window system itself is very bare: windows are just plain rectangles. The window manager is just an application like many others that takes upon itself to add decorations on windows and move them around. Nothing would prevent the same UI design with a non-client-server API design. But obviously Wayland chose otherwise. (Which is not surprising, since Wayland comes from Freedesktop, and Freedesktop are awed by Apple's policy of restricting user choice for the good of the user.) Regards, -- Nicolas George
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