XFree KWin: Ridding KDE's Wayland Compositor Of X11 Dependencies

Martin Flöser (nee Gräßlin) has announced the "XFree KWin" project. This isn't to be confused with XFree86 but rather is about ridding KWin optionally of X11/X.Org dependencies.

Similar to the GNOME GSoC project for allowing Mutter to lose some of its X11 dependence, XFree KWin is much the same approach but on the KDE side of the equation. When completed, KWin would be able to act as a Wayland compositor without needing to load any X11/XWayland support at start or even until needed -- or never in the case of Plasma Mobile or other scenarios that could be Wayland-only.

A lot of the changes are queued up for KDE Plasma 5.11 but it doesn't look like all of the work will land for this next release.

This will help avoid including the legacy X11 code unless needed, lead to a leaner KWin and quicker start-up time, among other benefits.

Those wishing to learn more can check out Martin's blog.