The Xfce development team has announced the creation of Xfwl4, a new Wayland compositor for the Xfce desktop environment. This initiative, made possible through community donations, involves building the compositor from scratch using the Rust programming language and smithay libraries. The aim of the project is to replicate the functionalities and behavior of the existing xfwm4 window manager, while ensuring a seamless transition by reusing existing configuration dialogs.
The decision to develop Xfwl4 stems from a shift in approach, moving away from the previous plan of modifying xfwm4 to support both X11 and Wayland. By focusing purely on Wayland, the Xfce team hopes to provide a more robust and performance-optimized solution for its user base.
A first development release of Xfwl4 is anticipated to be available by mid-year, providing a promising outlook for Xfce users eager to transition to Wayland. This project not only highlights the community’s willingness to support the evolution of Xfce but also sets a precedent in open-source development driven by collective contributions.

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Xfce is developing Xfwl4, a new Wayland compositor built from scratch using Rust and smithay libraries, funded by community donations. The project replaces the previous plan to modify xfwm4 for dual X11/Wayland support, instead focusing purely on Wayland for better performance and robustness. Xfwl4 will replicate xfwm4's functionality and reuse existing configuration dialogs to ensure a seamless transition. A first development release is expected by mid-2025.

Xfce Announces Xfwl4: A Community-Funded Wayland Compositor