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Ubuntu 25.10 Going to Remove Xorg Session for GNOME
Quoting: Ubuntu 25.10 Going to Remove Xorg Session for GNOME | UbuntuHandbook —
It means that there will no longer “Ubuntu on Xorg” session to choose from GDM Login screen since 25.10. All GNOME Shell and Mutter based sessions will be Wayland only, though most X11 applications will run on Wayland transparently through XWayland.
For those who still need X11, non-GNOME desktop environments, e.g., KUbuntu, XUbuntu, Ubuntu MATE, are recommended.
It's FOSS News:
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Now Ubuntu is Also Ditching Xorg Completely for Wayland!
Wayland is rapidly shaping up to be the future of the Linux desktop, offering a more modern and secure alternative to the aging X11-based Xorg display server protocol. With its modular design, Wayland delivers smoother graphics, enhanced security, and better support for modern hardware.
While many people still have reservations over its adoption, citing issues like inconsistent feature support across desktop environments, compatibility gaps, and challenges for NVIDIA users, many Linux distributions are moving towards it.
Fedora, for instance, recently announced that starting with Fedora 43, its flagship edition, Workstation, will fully drop GNOME X11 support and run exclusively on Wayland, resulting in the complete removal of X11 session components.
Linuxiac:
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Ubuntu Joins the Movement: X11 Officially Being Phased Out
Ubuntu’s next release, 25.10 “Questing Quokka,” will mark a major shift in the Linux desktop landscape by removing the Xorg-based GNOME session entirely. Starting with this update, the default “Ubuntu” session in GDM will run exclusively on Wayland, aligning with both upstream GNOME’s roadmap and Ubuntu’s long-term vision for a more secure and modern desktop experience.
GNOME itself is preparing to drop Xorg support entirely in version 49. By making the switch now, Ubuntu aims to give users and developers a full interim release cycle (before 26.04 LTS) to adapt, reducing fragmentation and smoothing the transition ahead of the next long-term support version.
For most users, the transition will be seamless. XWayland ensures that legacy X11 applications continue to work without modification, running transparently under Wayland. However, the “Ubuntu on Xorg” option will no longer appear in GDM, meaning GNOME Shell and Mutter sessions will be Wayland-only.
GamingOnLinux:
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Ubuntu 25.10 goes all-in with Wayland, dropping support for GNOME on Xorg | GamingOnLinux
The Canonical Desktop Team have announced that starting with Ubuntu 25.10, they're going all-in with GNOME on Wayland.
In a post on the official Discourse Forum from developer Jean Baptiste Lallement, they stated that with Ubuntu 25.10 they are "taking a significant step forward in the evolution of the Ubuntu Desktop by removing the Xorg-based Ubuntu session" and so it will be exclusively Wayland. Why? They said the decision "follows upstream GNOME’s roadmap and aligns with our long-term strategy of delivering a secure, performant, and modern desktop experience".
And the fact is, Wayland is the future and the more distributions that force it by default, the quicker the Linux world can move on and continue improving.
OMG Ubuntu:
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Ubuntu 25.10 Drops Support for GNOME on Xorg - OMG! Ubuntu
Ubuntu 25.10 ‘Questing Quokka’ will not include an X11 Ubuntu desktop session. Only a Wayland session will be available. This means it will not be possible to run the GNOME desktop on Xorg on Ubuntu 25.10.
For context, Xorg (X11) is the decades-old display server Linux desktops have used, but which is now largely unmaintained. Wayland is a modern replacement (not a clone) offering better security and performance, but not 1:1 feature parity.
Ubuntu 25.10 will only offer Wayland to those using the regular1 desktop release.
LWN:
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Ubuntu 25.10 to drop support for X11 in GNOME
Jean Baptiste Lallement, a member of Canonical's desktop team, has announced that Ubuntu will drop support for GNOME on X11 in the 25.10 ("Questing Quokka") release set for October. GNOME plans to remove X11 support in GNOME 49, which is scheduled for September, so Ubuntu is looking to be proactive:
Ubuntu 25.10 is the last interim release before our next LTS (Ubuntu 26.04). By moving now, we give developers and users a full cycle to adapt before the next LTS, align with GNOME 49 and reduce fragmentation while simplifying our support matrix heading into the LTS.Fedora decided in early May to drop X11 support for GNOME in Fedora 43, which is also due in October.
LWN discussion:
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Ubuntu 25.10 to drop support for GNOME on Xorg
Jean Baptiste Lallement, a member of Canonical's desktop team...
Two More:
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Ubuntu 25.10 and Fedora 43 to drop X11 in GNOME editions
Like any other distro with GNOME 49, the next interim release of Ubuntu will be Wayland-only – at least in its GNOME variant.
This is no big surprise, and it follows both parallel and upstream announcements. Upstream, because GNOME 49 will remove the X11 session, and parallel, because the corresponding release of Red Hat's free community distro, Fedora 43, will also be Wayland-only.
We anticipate some user resistance to this change, and more to what's coming down the pipe in the near future, as the GNOME project is also planning to introduce stronger dependencies on systemd. At present, GNOME runs fine on the BSDs and systemd-free Linux distributions, but that is about to get a great deal harder. Soon, GNOME will effectively be Linux-only, unless the maintainers of versions for other OSes do some heroic porting work. That also goes for distros with non-standard userlands, such as the remarkable Chimera Linux with its FreeBSD-based userland, which currently uses GNOME by default.
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Ubuntu 25.10 Adopts Wayland as Default Display Server
In a significant shift for the Linux ecosystem, Ubuntu 25.10, codenamed “Questing Quokka,” is making a bold move by fully embracing Wayland as its default display server protocol, effectively discontinuing support for GNOME on Xorg.
This transition, announced by Canonical, marks a pivotal moment in the long-standing evolution of desktop environments on Linux, reflecting a broader industry trend towards modern graphics protocols. As one of the most widely used Linux distributions, Ubuntu’s decision could reshape user experiences and influence other distributions to follow suit.
The move to Wayland isn’t merely a technical update; it’s a strategic pivot aimed at addressing long-standing challenges with Xorg, a display server that has been the backbone of Linux graphical environments for decades. According to NERDS.xyz, Canonical’s Desktop Team has decided to eliminate the option for GNOME on Xorg starting with this release, signaling confidence in Wayland’s maturity and its ability to meet the demands of modern desktop computing.