The Xfce project is creating a new Wayland compositor named Xfwl4 to support Wayland sessions in its lightweight desktop environment. This tool will complement the existing Xfwm4 window manager, enabling seamless transitions between X11 and Wayland. Led by developer Brian Tarricone, the compositor aims for inclusion in the upcoming Xfce 4.22 release in 2026.
The Xfce desktop environment, known for its lightweight design, is advancing its Wayland compatibility with the development of Xfwl4, a brand-new compositor built using the Rust programming language. This initiative addresses the limitations encountered in earlier efforts to port the existing Xfwm4 window manager to Wayland.
Work on integrating Wayland support into Xfce began a couple of years ago, culminating in an experimental Wayland session featured in the Xfce 4.20 release from 2024. However, Brian Tarricone, a core Xfce developer leading the project, determined that directly porting Xfwm4 was not the optimal approach. Instead, Xfwl4 will replicate the functionality and behavior of Xfwm4 but operate exclusively for Wayland sessions, distinct from X11.
Tarricone plans to leverage the configuration dialogs and xfconf settings already in use with Xfwm4 from the current Xfce 4.20 version. Notably, Xfwl4 will not derive from the Xfwm4 codebase. For its foundation, the team has selected the smithay project, a Rust-based framework for Wayland compositors. This choice stems from smithay's comprehensive support for official Wayland protocol extensions, its avoidance of high-level abstractions, and strong documentation—advantages over the more common wlroots library.
The introduction of Xfwl4 necessitates significant updates to Xfce's session management. In Wayland environments, the compositor must serve as the session's root, replacing the role traditionally held by xfce4-session. Future Xfce releases will include both Xfwm4 and Xfwl4, allowing users to choose between X11 and Wayland sessions without disruption.
If development progresses as planned, Xfwl4 should debut in Xfce 4.22, expected in 2026, marking a key step in modernizing the desktop environment for contemporary display protocols.
