[RFC] Wayland driver development update

[Zebediah Figura (she/her)]

On 2/24/21 12:55 PM, Alexandros Frantzis wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 09:34:09AM +0100, Alexandre Julliard wrote:
>> Alexandros Frantzis <alexandros.frantzis at collabora.com> writes:
>>
>>> On Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 10:55:20AM -0600, Zebediah Figura (she/her) wrote:
>>>> Hello Alexandros,
>>>
>>> Hello Zebediah,
>>>
>>> Thank you very much for your response!
>>>
>>>> On 2/19/21 9:16 AM, Alexandros Frantzis wrote:
>>>>> In previous discussions there were some concerns about accepting the
>>>>> Wayland driver into staging, unless there was more confidence that it
>>>>> would eventually be accepted upstream. What's the best way to get an
>>>>> answer to this question of (eventual) upstream acceptance? Even in this
>>>>> somewhat experimental state the driver is viable for many use cases.
>>>>> What would be required to drive this effort forward on the path to
>>>>> staging and, later, upstream inclusion?
>>>>
>>>> Having a positive answer from Alexandre (viz. that a Wayland driver is
>>>> desirable) is one thing, and would be necessary for me to agree to
>>>> maintain the driver, but I'd also like to see the following before
>>>> accepting anything into wine-staging:
>>>
>>> Alexandre (Cc-ed and hi!), it would be great if we could get some input
>>> about your views on the upstream inclusion of a Wayland driver.
>>
>> I'm not opposed in principle to having a Wayland driver upstream. In
>> fact I started writing one myself many years ago... It got stalled when
>> I realized there was essentially no way to do decent window management,
>> and that the best we could do would be the equivalent of X11 desktop
>> mode, where we manage the windows ourselves. I don't have the impression
>> that the situation has improved in the meantime, or that there is any
>> interest in improving it.
>>
>> That doesn't mean it couldn't go upstream, but then there will be
>> constraints on what hacks and workarounds you'll be able to do. For
>> instance, it will have to stick to protocols that are standardized
>> across desktops, without adding compositor-specific workarounds, just
>> like we don't allow window manager specific hacks on the X11 side
>> otherwise it quickly becomes unmaintainable.
> 
> Hello Alexandre,
> 
> Thank you for the reply!
> 
> It's indeed an explicit goal of this effort to use only official and
> widely supported protocols. Although some gaps remain, this approach has
> got us quite far already.
> 
>  From the discussions so far, my understanding is that going through
> wine-staging would the preferred path to upstreaming in this case. I
> would like to confirm that my understanding is indeed correct, or
> whether Zebediah or you would recommend some different approach.

Yes, with my fears mostly assuaged, I at least am willing to sign on to 
maintain the driver in wine-staging.

> 
> Thanks,
> Alexandros
>