linux/docs/display-protocols/wayland.md

Wayland

Wayland is a modern display protocol and architecture that replaces the aging X11 system on Linux. It defines how applications communicate with the display server to render graphics and handle input.

🧩 Core Concepts of Wayland:

Protocol, not a server: Wayland is a specification — it defines how clients (apps) and the compositor (display server) talk to each other.

Compositor = Display Server + Window Manager: In Wayland, the compositor handles both rendering and window management. Examples include:

• Mutter (GNOME)
• KWin (KDE Plasma)
• Hyprland, Sway, river, etc.

Direct rendering: Applications render their own graphics and hand them off to the compositor, reducing complexity and improving performance.

misc

Restart Kwn compositor (does not kill your session).

Used for wake up from gpu/monitor from sleep remotely, works over ssh

kwin_wayland --replace &