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Kubuntu 25.10 Won’t Include an X11 Session by Default
Quoting: Kubuntu 25.10 Won't Include an X11 Session by Default - OMG! Ubuntu —
The official Ubuntu flavour, which ships with the KDE Plasma desktop environment and associated technologies, will only provide a Wayland display session for new installs in Kubuntu 25.10, released on October 9 2025.
The decision isn’t that unexpected and mirrors news that Ubuntu 25.10 is Wayland-only (though that’s because GNOME developers upstream are in the process of removing code which lets GNOME Shell run on Xorg/X11).
KDE developers also plan to eventually phase out X11 support (but no firm deadline, but possible by the time KDE Plasma 7 rolls around). They split Wayland and X11 code into separate packages in the latest KDE Plasma 6.4 release.
Kubuntu’s Rik Mills has clarified its display server protocol plans for the next release, telling a user who asked if X11 sessions would be removed...
XDA and Neowin:
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A chapter of Linux's history comes to a close as Kubuntu drops X11 support for Wayland
It seems this year is the year a few operating systems move on from their old shells. For example, Microsoft is sunsetting Windows 10 this October, hoping that all its users will migrate to Windows 11 (and not Linux). Now, it seems that Linux is seeing its own shift as distros begin dropping support for X11 and embracing Wayland.
While distros have been slowly adopting Wayland, not all of them have made the jump. Well, you can check one more distro off the list, as Kubuntu is going the way of its bigger brother and removing X11 as an option for new installs.
End of an era? Kubuntu is removing default support for X11 in new installs - Neowin
X11, the old window system whose days have long felt numbered, just saw another one of its major supporters head for the exit. Kubuntu has decided to follow its parent distro's lead, making its next release, version 25.10, a Wayland-only affair for fresh installs.
It seems many Linux developers see Wayland as the future. Just recently, Linux Mint started working to improve support for the protocol in Cinnamon, tackling lingering issues with keyboard layouts and input methods. You can even see the progress in KDE's development, where an upgrade to Wayland PiP is planned for KDE Plasma 6.5.
So what's the logic behind dropping a session that, for the most part, still works? According to Kubuntu's Rik Mills, the team wants to "rip off this sticking plaster" now, in an interim release, rather than piss off a lot of people by doing it in the next Long-Term Support version, 26.04. The developers feel that maintaining code for the aging X11 system holds back progress on security and new features that Wayland can enable more easily. Plus, supporting two separate display servers is a massive undertaking.
GoL:
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KDE Plasma will continue having an X11 session, as Kubuntu switches to Wayland by default
KDE developers confirm Plasma will continue having a maintained X11 session, and now we know Kubuntu will be Wayland by default.
The Register:
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Xlibre forks to the rescue – but Kubuntu gives X11 the boot
We reported news of the fork a couple of weeks ago. There was a lot of response across various FOSS forums and message boards, some of it very positive. Weigelt's positions on matters such as COVID vaccines and diversity, equality, and inclusion are, to put it diplomatically, controversial, and these are not the only things, as has been discussed in the Fediverse.
As we covered last week, some other projects such as Devuan have come out in support, and that in turn is polarizing more people. Some of the responses that this vulture has received online have been very negative indeed, including several ad hominem attacks. Then again, vituperative flame wars are nearly as old as software itself. (The words "software" and "bit" were coined in 1952 by the late John Tukey, recently celebrated in XKCD.) Some flame wars are infamous enough to have their own Wikipedia articles.