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The Qubes OS Project issue tracker
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Have the GUI daemon draw its own window decorations #6796

Open DemiMarie opened 3 years ago

DemiMarie commented 3 years ago

The problem you're addressing (if any)

Qubes OS currently relies on the X11 window manager to draw decorations. This requires work for each supported window manager, and will be even more difficult under Wayland. GNOME Shell does not support server-side decorations at all for Wayland, and GNOME Shell extensions are not viable as they lack a stable API. The theming hacks used with KDE have had reliability problems, and Qubes OS currently uses a patched version of XFWM.

Describe the solution you'd like

When under Wayland, the GUI daemon should draw its own window decorations. This has the advantage that it only needs to be done once per display protocol, and adding new display protocols is incredibly rare. It also provides consistent look-and-feel across desktop environments, and can even be accessible if implemented properly.

Where is the value to a user, and who might that user be?

Users who want to use alternative desktop environments will benefit from broader support.

Describe any alternative solutions you've considered

Keep implementing per-Wayland-compositor hacks and/or patches. This is not sustainable indefinitely.

Additional context

Accessibility will require using ATK and AT-SPI2

Relevant documentation you've consulted

GNOME Shell documentation

Related, non-duplicate issues

1806

DemiMarie commented 3 years ago

Some of the code used for this should be split into a library, so that it can be used by other projects. The developers of the Smithay Client Toolkit have expressed interest in using this library as a backend.