List of software for Wayland
From Gentoo Wiki
This page gives brief lists of various desktop related packages for Wayland, such as compositors, application launchers, and so on.
For the basics of Wayland, see Wayland.
Note
Many packages below are found in the GURU and wayland-desktop overlays, and are not yet included in the main ('gentoo') repository.
Many packages below are found in the GURU and wayland-desktop overlays, and are not yet included in the main ('gentoo') repository.
Compositors
In Gentoo, many Wayland compositors are found in the category gui-wm.
Window managers can be classified mostly as three kinds below. (Notice Wayland compositors have the role of window managers.)
- Stacking (aka floating): The traditional mode of how window managers are expected to behave, similar to that of Windows or OS X. Windows act like pieces of paper on a desk, and can be stacked on top of each other.
- Tiling: Windows are tiled so that none of them overlap. These usually make very extensive use of key-bindings and traditionally have little to no reliance on the mouse. Tiling window managers may be manual, offer predefined layouts, or both.
- Dynamic: These window managers can dynamically switch between stacking and tiling configurations.
In the following table, the "wlroots?" column indicates whether a compositor is based on the wlroots library. Certain Wayland software, such as Wofi and gui-apps/wayvnc, is designed for use with wlroots-based compositors.
| Name | Package | Type | wlroots? | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cage | gui-wm/cage::guru | Kiosk | Yes | [Beta] Kiosk based compositor for displaying a single fullscreen application (in GURU overlay) |
| Cagebreak | gui-wm/cagebreak::wayland-desktop | Tiling | Yes | [Beta] Tiling compositor inspired by RatPoison (in wayland-desktop overlay) |
| DWL | gui-wm/dwl | Tiling | Yes | [Unstable] DWM clone |
| Enlightenment | x11-wm/enlightenment | Stacking | No? | Eye candy compositor part of the Enlightenment desktop environment |
| Hyprland | gui-wm/hyprland | Tiling | No | [Unstable] Dynamic tiling compositor that doesn't sacrifice on its looks |
| Kiwmi | gui-wm/kiwmi::wayland-desktop | Stacking | Yes | [Unstable] Fully programmable compositor configurable with Lua (in wayland-desktop overlay) |
| KWin | kde-plasma/kwin | Dynamic | No | KDE's compositing window manager/Wayland compositor. |
| LabWC | gui-wm/labwc::wayland-desktop | Stacking | Yes | [Unstable] OpenBox clone (in wayland-desktop overlay) |
| Liri | gui-liri/liri-shell::wayland-desktop | Stacking | No? | [Unstable] QT shell from LiriOS (in wayland-desktop overlay) |
| Mutter | x11-wm/mutter | Stacking | No | GNOME's compositing window manager/Wayland compositor. |
| Newm | gui-wm/newm::wayland-desktop | Tiling | ? | [Unstable] Wayland compositor written with laptops and touchpads in mind (in wayland-desktop overlay). Note that newm has now become unmaintained [1], though a fork of it has been created[2]. |
| River | gui-wm/river::wayland-desktop | Tiling | Yes | [Unstable] Dynamic tiling compositor, inspired by DWM and bspwm (in wayland-desktop overlay) |
| Sway | gui-wm/sway | Tiling | Yes | x11-wm/i3 clone |
| Waybox | gui-wm/waybox::wayland-desktop | Stacking | Yes | [Unstable] OpenBox clone (in wayland-desktop overlay) |
| Wayfire | gui-wm/wayfire | Stacking | Yes | Beautiful, eye candy compositor inspired by Compiz |
| Weston | dev-libs/weston | Stacking | No | [Not for general use] Reference compositor implementation for developers |
Functionality by compositor
Note
Sway is based on wlroots; other compositors based on wlroots include DWL, River and Wayfire. An extension available on Sway might be available on such other wlroots-based compositors as well.
Sway is based on wlroots; other compositors based on wlroots include DWL, River and Wayfire. An extension available on Sway might be available on such other wlroots-based compositors as well.
The following tables are based on the information provided at Wayland Explorer; last updated 2023-09-24. A number indicates which version of an extension is supported by a compositor.
Wayland extensions marked 'core'
| Extension | Latest version | KWin | Mir | Mutter | Sway | Weston |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| wl_compositor | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| wl_shm | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| wl_data_device_manager | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| wl_shell | 1 | 1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| wl_seat | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| wl_output | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| wl_subcompositor | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Wayland extensions marked 'stable'
| Extension | Latest version | KWin | Mir | Mutter | Sway | Weston |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation time | ✗ | ✗ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Viewporter | 1 | ✗ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| XDG shell | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
Wayland extensions marked 'staging'
| Extension | Latest version | KWin | Mir | Mutter | Sway | Weston |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idle notify | 1 | 1 | ✗ | ✗ | 1 | ✗ |
| Session lock | 1 | ✗ | 1 | ✗ | 1 | ✗ |
Wayland extensions marked 'unstable'
| Extension | Latest version | KWin | Mir | Mutter | Sway | Weston |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XDG decoration | 1 | 1 | ✗ | ✗ | 1 | ✗ |
| Idle inhibit | 1 | 1 | 1 | ✗ | 1 | ✗ |
| Primary selection | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ✗ |
Display managers
A display manager (DM), sometimes known as login manager, presents the user with a graphical login screen to start a GUI session.
For the full article and available DMs, see display manager.
Application launchers
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| bemenu | dev-libs/bemenu | dmenu clone |
| Fuzzel | gui-apps/fuzzel::guru | Application launcher similar to rofi's 'drun' mode (in GURU overlay) |
| j4-dmenu-desktop | x11-misc/j4-dmenu-desktop | i3-desktop-menu replacement |
| lavaLauncher | gui-apps/lavalauncher | Simple, static, launcher |
| nwg-launchers | gui-apps/nwg-launchers::guru | GTK based static-bar + logout + grid (in GURU overlay) |
| rofi-wayland | gui-apps/rofi-wayland::guru | A window switcher, run dialog and dmenu replacement - fork with Wayland support (in GURU overlay) |
| wmenu | gui-apps/wmenu | dynamic menu for wlroots compositors, maintains the look and feel of dmenu |
| Wofi | gui-apps/wofi | rofi clone |
Clipboard managers
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| cliphist | app-misc/cliphist::guru | wayland clipboard manager with support for multimedia |
| wl-clipboard | gui-apps/wl-clipboard | Simple command-line programs |
Desktop notifications
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dunst | x11-misc/dunst | Customizable and lightweight notification-daemon |
| Mako | gui-apps/mako | Lightweight Wayland notification daemon |
| Notification Daemon | x11-misc/notification-daemon | Notification daemon from GNOME project |
| Tiramisu | gui-apps/tiramisu::guru | Minimalistic desktop notifications provider (in GURU overlay) |
Status bars
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| i3status-rust | x11-misc/i3status-rust::guru | Very resource friendly and feature-rich replacement for i3status (in GURU overlay) |
| SFWBar | gui-apps/sfwbar::guru | Sway Floating Window Bar (in GURU overlay) |
| Waybar | gui-apps/waybar | Highly customizable Wayland bar for Sway and wlroots-based compositors |
| Yambar | gui-apps/yambar | Modular status panel for X11 and Wayland, inspired by Polybar (in wayland-desktop overlay) |
Terminal emulators
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Alacritty | x11-terms/alacritty | GPU-accelerated terminal emulator |
| Kitty | x11-terms/kitty | A modern, hackable, featureful, OpenGL-based terminal emulator |
| Mlterm | x11-terms/mlterm | A multi-lingual terminal emulator |
| foot | gui-apps/foot | A fast and lightweight terminal emulator for Wayland |
Wallpaper managers
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Azote | gui-apps/azote::guru | Wallpaper and color manager for X and wlroots-based compositors (in GURU overlay) |
| MPVPaper | gui-apps/mpvpaper::guru | Video wallpaper program for wlroots-based compositors (in GURU overlay) |
| Oguri | gui-apps/oguri::wayland-desktop | Wallpaper daemon supporting animated wallpapers for Wayland compositors (in wayland-desktop overlay) |
| SwayBG | gui-apps/swaybg | Wallpaper utility for all Wayland compositors |
| Hyprpaper | gui-apps/hyprpaper::guru | [Unstable] Fast wallpaper utility with support for all wlroots-based compositors (in GURU overlay) |
Screenlock and idle management
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Swayidle | gui-apps/swayidle | Idle management daemon for all Wayland compositors |
| Swaylock | gui-apps/swaylock | Screen locker for all Wayland compositors |
| Swaylock-effects | gui-apps/swaylock-effects::guru | Swaylock fork with fancy effects (in GURU overlay) |
Power management
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| wlopm(1) | gui-apps/wlopm::guru | Wayland output power management |
Multiple display configuration
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Kanshi | gui-apps/kanshi | Dynamic display configuration, like autorandr, for all Wayland compositors |
| wdisplays | gui-apps/wdisplays::guru | GUI-based display configuration for all Wayland compositors (in GURU overlay) |
| wl-mirror | gui-apps/wl-mirror::guru | Mirror an output onto a client surface (in GURU overlay) |
| wlr-randr | gui-apps/wlr-randr::guru | Xrandr clone for all Wayland compositors (in GURU overlay) |
Screenshots and recording
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Grim | gui-apps/grim | Screen image grabber for all Wayland compositors |
| Slurp | gui-apps/slurp | Screen region selector for all Wayland compositors |
| Swappy | gui-apps/swappy | Screenshotting and editing tool for all Wayland compositors, inspired by OS X snappy |
| wf-recorder | gui-apps/wf-recorder | Screen recorder for all Wayland compositors |
Remote access
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Wayvnc | gui-apps/wayvnc | [Beta] VNC server for wlroots-based compositors |
| Waypipe | gui-apps/waypipe | [Unstable] Transparent proxy for all Wayland compositors |
Miscellaneous
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| imv | media-gfx/imv | Image viewer for Wayland and X |
| lswt | gui-apps/lswt::guru | List Wayland toplevels/windows |
| mpvpaper | gui-apps/mpvpaper::guru | Video wallpaper program for wlroots-based compositors, using mpv(1) |
| wev(1) | gui-apps/wev::guru | Show Wayland events |
See also
- Recommended applications — applications recommended for use in a graphical environment (X11, Wayland)
- Recommended tools — lists system-administration related tools recommended for use in a shell environment (terminal/console)
- Qt Desktop applications — a list of recommendations for a light-weight, non-KDE, Qt-only desktop environment.