Wayland Nvidia

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Wayland protocol and compositor fragmentation

  • One view: Wayland’s core protocol is minimal and “not feature complete,” forcing each desktop to add its own compositor-specific protocols; the article is really about fixing Hyperland, not “Wayland” in general.
  • Others counter that many non-core protocols are standardized (wayland-protocols, wlroots), and portals (e.g., xdg-desktop-portal + PipeWire) provide cross-desktop features like screen capture.
  • Noted gaps: accessibility (screen readers) and richer input sharing (keyboard/mouse between systems).

Gaming on Linux with Nvidia (Steam/Proton)

  • Several users report already running ~95–99% of their Steam library on Linux, including with Nvidia 30/40/50‑series GPUs; main exceptions are titles with kernel-level anti-cheat or games actively blocking Linux.
  • Others, citing ProtonDB, argue that among top Steam titles only a minority are truly “click‑and‑play” (Platinum/Gold), and “Gold” often still needs tweaks.
  • Experiences vary by game type: some mention Nvidia‑specific Proton bugs in niches like flight simulators; others list demanding titles (RDR2, Cyberpunk, FFVII Rebirth) working flawlessly.

Nvidia vs AMD and driver stability

  • Multiple commenters say they abandoned Nvidia for AMD (e.g., 9070XT) due to chronic Wayland issues, broken tools, or driver maintenance hassles; report smooth operation and good performance on AMD.
  • Others say modern Nvidia on mainstream distros “just works” (Fedora, Ubuntu, CachyOS, Bazzite, Pop, Arch+KDE), including multi‑monitor mixed‑refresh setups.
  • Suspend/resume: some call Nvidia “utterly broken”; others note severe suspend/resume bugs also exist for AMD and even on Windows, making this a general ecosystem problem.
  • On laptops, mixing integrated + Nvidia GPUs can still be fragile; some users pin older drivers to keep external monitors usable.

Distro choice and “grandma readiness”

  • Skeptics argue that needing a long, Nvidia+Wayland tuning guide disproves claims that Linux is ready for ordinary users.
  • Replies stress that this is an Arch+Hyprland enthusiast setup; non‑technical users should use curated, vendor‑supported systems (ChromeOS, Pop, Ubuntu, Mint, Zorin, Bazzite) and buy Linux‑friendly hardware.
  • Several insist that for such setups, users never need to know what Wayland is.

Is the guide still necessary?

  • Some say most of the article is outdated for 2025: on many distros, installing the proprietary Nvidia driver is enough; KMS and Wayland settings are auto‑handled.
  • Others still struggle (e.g., Debian + 1050 Ti, certain gaming laptops) and question why known workarounds aren’t automated by installers.

Article quality (ads, presentation) and misc.

  • Many complain the page is nearly unreadable due to aggressive ads and anti‑adblock overlays; several refuse to read it without blockers.
  • Minor notes: poor terminal screenshots, reports of KWin/desktop slowdowns over long uptimes (sometimes linked to Firefox or JetBrains), and lingering graphical glitches on some Nvidia+Wayland setups.