Fedora 43 to Drop GNOME X11 Support

Fedora 43 plans to remove X11 packages from GNOME repos.

The upcoming Fedora 43 release, slated for October 2025, will strip away GNOME’s X11 support packages from its repositories, nudging all GNOME users toward Wayland. While the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee (FESCo) hasn’t yet given the final nod, the proposal signals a clear direction: the future is Wayland, and X11 is being left behind.

The X11 Sunset

For years, X11 has been the backbone of Linux graphical interfaces, a trusty but aging workhorse. However, the GNOME project has been steadily phasing it out, and Fedora is following suit. In Fedora 41, X11 components were already removed from the default Workstation installation and Live media, though users could still grab them from the repositories. Now, Fedora 43 is ready to pull the plug entirely, aligning with GNOME’s broader roadmap to make X11 optional.

GNOME’s X11 session has been on life support for a while. It’s barely developed, rarely tested, and plagued by unfixed bugs. The recent GNOME 48 release introduced changes allowing core components like gnome-session, GDM, GNOME Shell, and Mutter to be built without X11 dependencies. Looking ahead, GNOME 49 (fall 2025) will disable X11 support by default, and GNOME 50 (spring 2026) will erase X11 session code entirely.

As part of the upstream effort to remove X11 support from GNOME,
Fedora will no longer include the GNOME X11 packages. The GNOME X11
session receives virtually no testing and little to no development.

There has been active effort upstream for several years now to close
out the remaining user experience blockers to dropping the X11 session
code, and that work completed with GNOME 48. - Mailing List

For users, this transition promises a more polished and future-proof desktop. Wayland, unlike X11, is designed for modern hardware and use cases, offering smoother animations, better scaling for high-DPI displays, and enhanced security through isolated application rendering. Think of X11 as an old CRT monitor – functional but clunky – while Wayland is a sleek 4K OLED panel, built for today’s demands.

Wayland: Smoother, Smarter Desktop

Recent advancements have made Wayland a robust replacement for X11. NVIDIA’s proprietary drivers now support Wayland, resolving a major hurdle for gamers and professionals reliant on high-performance GPUs. Fedora itself has ironed out kinks, swapping the outdated fbdev driver for simpledrm, which plays nicely with Wayland. These tweaks mean fewer crashes, better performance, and a desktop that feels snappy and cohesive.

For everyday users, Wayland’s benefits are tangible. Ever notice blurry text on a 4K monitor with X11? Wayland’s fractional scaling handles high-resolution displays with precision, making text and icons crisp. It also isolates applications more effectively, reducing the risk of one misbehaving app crashing your entire session. Gamers will appreciate Wayland’s lower input latency and smoother frame delivery, especially on modern hardware.

The Trade-Offs

Dropping X11 isn’t without growing pains. Some legacy applications or niche workflows still rely on X11’s quirks, and while tools like XWayland provide compatibility, they’re not perfect. Users with older hardware or specific accessibility needs might face hiccups during the transition. Fedora’s gamble is that these edge cases are now rare enough to justify the leap.

The payoff? A leaner, meaner Fedora. By cutting X11, developers can pour resources into polishing Wayland, fixing bugs, and adding features that matter – like better multi-monitor support or enhanced HDR capabilities.

Road Ahead

Fedora 43’s decision mirrors broader industry trends. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10 has already ditched X.org Server, and other distributions are likely to follow. Wayland’s momentum is unwavering, driven by its ability to handle modern workloads and its growing ecosystem of supported hardware and software.

For Fedora users, this is a call to action. If you’re still clinging to X11, now’s the time to test Wayland. Most users will find the transition seamless, with a desktop that feels faster and looks sharper.

Fedora has always been a trailblazer, and dropping X11 is its latest move. Will it redefine the Linux desktop? Only time will tell.

Via Mailing list

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