XFCE 4.20

[Kermit the Frog]

... I get a black screen of death with the experimental Wayland session...

Here it just blinks once and and turns back to login screen.

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System:
  Kernel: 6.11.2-1-liquorix-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
    v: 12.2.0 parameters: audit=0 intel_pstate=disable
    BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.11.2-1-liquorix-amd64
    root=UUID=3b501b97-def8-4a35-ab87-139f05d4d960 ro quiet nosplash
    
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm
    v: 4.20.0 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.26.0 Distro: MX-23.4_x64 Libretto July 31
    2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)

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Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GT216M [GeForce GT 230M] vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    driver: nouveau v: kernel non-free: series: 340.xx status: legacy (EOL)
    last: release: 340.108 kernel: 5.4 xorg: 1.20 arch: Tesla process: 40-80nm
    built: 2006-13 pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: LVDS-1
    empty: HDMI-A-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0a28 class-ID: 0300
    temp: 64.0 C
    
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver:
    X: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: nouveau gpu: nouveau
    display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
    
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 362x204mm (14.25x8.03")
    s-diag: 416mm (16.36")
    
  Monitor-1: LVDS-1 model: Seiko Epson 0x3651 built: 2008 res: 1366x768
    hz: 60 dpi: 101 gamma: 1.2 size: 344x194mm (13.54x7.64") diag: 395mm (15.5")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1366x768 min: 640x350
    
  API: OpenGL v: 3.3 Mesa 24.2.2-1~mx23ahs renderer: NVA5 direct-render: Yes

[imschmeg]

I tried XFCE 4.20 with labwc, and did get something to work, but not well.

Note that without a separate working configuration for labwc, you will get a blank screen - as you would in openbox without a configuration. I happen to have a working labwc configuration that already works (menus, key bindings, sfwbar panel) that I used. I have been using labwc for a few years now, and it is pretty solid, although very basic.

For the XFCE panel, it is best to start with a configuration (brought over from X11) that does not include the workspace switcher, else the panel will refuse to work. I noticed major bugs with XFCE panel in wayland with fractional scaling. I am using a scale factor of 1.667 (Wayland scale factors are reciprocals of Xrandr scale factors, so this is 0.6 in Xrandr) on my primary monitor, and the XFCE panel fluctuates wildly. If I set the scale to an integer (1 or 2), it works. Also, the panel doesn't repaint itself well across scale changes, so you have to do something like change which display it is assigned to and then change it back before it redisplays properly. I don't like that the panel configuration is shared between X11 and Wayland - this will cause anyone who uses the workspace switcher (not yet supported at all in Wayland) to think the panel doesn't work at all. However, with this sharing, you can at least set up a panel in X11 that does not use the workspace switcher, then start xfce4-panel in Wayland and have it work. You will have to start xfce4-panel some way (labwc autostart file, for instance) because xfce4-session won't start it by default in Wayland (as far as I can tell).

There is no integration of XFCE settings with the compositor. Even parts of the theme that are not governed by the compositor (like the background/foreground colors in xfce4-terminal and thunar) are not operating as well. For instance, I have a script that flips between light and dark themes that works very well with X11/XFCE4, but not at all with Wayland/XFCE4. It uses xfconf-query to switch themes - and that doesn't take hold in the labwc setup until a restart of the desktop (logout/login).

BTW: I'm testing this in Debian testing, not in MX.

[imschmeg]

Back to X11.

Another minor bug: the XFCE 4.20 panel's window buttons and window menu do not pick up icons if they reside in non-system paths, such as ~/.icons. You can test this by copying any icon to ~/.icons/testicon.svg (or whatever extension is appropriate for that icon), then run

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xfce4-terminal -I ~/.icons/testicon.svg

The test icon will appear in its normal place at the top-left of the title bar (if you use server-side decorations as usual), and will also show up in the panel workspace switcher if you use preview mode there (and the terminal is big enough to show the icon in the preview). But you will see the standard xfce4-terminal icon in the panel window buttons and window menu. This is annoying if you have a few terminal-based apps and were using local icons to differentiate them (as I am) on the panel.

The workaround is to move whatever icons you keep in local user folders to some system folder instead, and refer to them there.