Ubuntu 24.10 to Default to Wayland for Nvidia Users

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Ubuntu 24.10’s plan to default to Wayland for Nvidia users highlights the long, messy transition away from the Xorg display system on Linux desktops. Many report smoother multi‑monitor setups, better scaling, less tearing, and tighter security under Wayland—especially on Intel and AMD GPUs—while Nvidia users still frequently encounter flickering, lag, broken apps, and fragile VPN or screen‑sharing support. Commenters see Ubuntu’s move as a way to pressure Nvidia and ecosystem vendors to finally prioritize solid Wayland support, but warn that users with stable Xorg-based workflows may want to hold off if their hardware or tooling remains fragile on Wayland.

Overall sentiment on Wayland vs Xorg

  • Experiences are highly mixed: some report Wayland as “rock solid” and far better than Xorg (especially on Intel/AMD), others find it unusable and revert to X11 within hours or days.
  • A recurring pattern: Wayland works great until a specific workflow breaks (e.g., snap apps not launching, screen sharing issues, glitches in Zoom/Chrome), then users drop back to Xorg.
  • Several users say they’ll stay on Xorg “as long as possible,” trying Wayland occasionally to see if things have improved.

Nvidia + Wayland

  • Many describe Nvidia+Wayland as “a nightmare”: lag, flickering, jumping cursor, bad gaming behavior, and compositor crashes.
  • Arch/Plasma, Sway, and wlroots-based compositors are frequently mentioned as especially fragile with Nvidia, even on recent RTX cards and drivers.
  • Some report good results with proprietary drivers, kernel modesetting (nvidia_drm.modeset=1), and certain desktops (notably KDE Plasma 6 on Arch), but this is not universal.
  • There’s hope that recent/future Nvidia driver releases and big distros dropping Xorg by default will finally push Nvidia to fix remaining issues.

End‑user benefits and regressions

  • Clear wins cited for Wayland:
    • Per-monitor scaling (e.g., 4K laptop + non‑scaled external monitor).
    • Better multi-monitor reliability in complex 4×4K setups.
    • Tear‑free rendering and smoother scrolling in browsers.
    • Improved security and isolation between apps; better foundation for HDR.
  • Regressions / missing pieces:
    • Remote desktop, screen sharing, and some portals behave worse or are inconsistent.
    • Tools like xdotool, easystroke, GlobalProtect VPN client, and some screen savers/macros either break or lack good Wayland-native replacements.
    • Some applications still run under XWayland, muddying the experience.

Window managers, workflows, and alternatives

  • Strong interest in tiling WMs (i3, Sway, xmonad, Qtile, tmux/3mux), but also pushback from users who find tiling more work than floating WMs with good virtual desktop setups.
  • Sway on Nvidia is often problematic (flickering, cursor issues), despite workarounds like --unsupported-gpu and wlroots-nvidia.
  • Some report excellent stability with Sway/Wayland on Intel/AMD, including suspend/resume and multi-monitor, contrasting with buggy GNOME/X11 experiences.

Architecture, ecosystem, and “what went wrong”

  • Multiple comments explain that:
    • Linux splits kernel, display protocol (X11/Wayland), and compositors, unlike Windows’ integrated stack.
    • Wayland is a protocol; wlroots and compositors implement it.
  • Critiques of Wayland’s slow maturity:
    • “Second-system effect” and overly minimal core protocols forced each desktop/WM to reinvent key pieces, creating fragmentation.
    • Features like screen sharing took many years to catch up to X11.
  • Some argue X’s age hides that its surviving code and design are exceptionally good, making any replacement hard to surpass.