I’ve recently switched to Linux and have been using X11 as my Display server, picom as my compositor and DWM as my window manager. But recently I have been hearing talk about this Hyperland and how it’s better than DWM and any other software out there (/s). Some say it’s a compositor, some say it’s a wm. Which one is it? Or is it just all in one? I want to make the switch but I’m confused as to how to do so… Where to start?
Comments
MasterGeekMX • 22 points • 2024-11-28
You may already know that Wayland aims to be the replacement of X11. Well, while in X you have the window manager rendering windows, and the compositor on the other side doing the eyecandy, due how Wayland works, the same program is tasked on both doing the window management and the compositing.
This is the reason why what should be window managers are called compositors on Wayland. It’s like if DWM had Picom inside it.
Hyprland is a wayland compositor (this means, window manager + vistual effect renderer). It is like i3 in the sense of that it does tiling mainly, but as in Wayland the window manager also does visual effects, it comes with animations, blur, and other things out of the box.
track me
grem75 • 5 points • 2024-11-28
It isn’t the window manager on X11 that renders the windows, as its name suggests it only arranges them. It is the display server that does the window rendering. You can kill the window manager and the windows remain, you can start a completely different one if you want and it will manage the existing windows.
Wayland combines the display server and compositor by design. The window management doesn’t have to be combined, but it is.
danGL3 • 5 points • 2024-11-28
Hyperland is a Wayland compositor with advanced window manager features
Its all-in-one nature comes from the fact that on Wayland there’s no such thing as separate window managers, an Wayland compositor is essentially the display server, compositor and window manager rolled into one (done so in order to reduce latency)
besseddrest • 4 points • 2024-11-28
hey man keep it down we don’t talk about hyperland here, you trynna get us killed?
[deleted] • 3 points • 2024-11-28
on X11 its call wm and you need picom additionaly. on wayland everything is buildin like wm and compositor so they call it just an compositor. Actually in community they also call wm for compositors so.
gmes78 • 3 points • 2024-11-28
With Wayland, a Wayland server also does compositing and window management.
I want to make the switch but I’m confused as to how to do so… Where to start?
You install it, then you run it from a TTY or through the graphical logic screen (AKA display manager).
EcstaticHades17 • 2 points • 2025-06-05
Hyperland is a 50-minute-long documentary film about hypertext and surrounding technologies. It was written by Douglas Adams and produced and directed by Max Whitby[2] for BBC Two in 1990.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperland
Perhaps you meant Hyprland, without the e?
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[deleted] • 0 points • 2024-11-28
It’s a just acomplicated DE, i can never see how it can be practical and useful
LazyWings • 1 points • 2024-11-28
It’s complicated, yes. It was a pain to initially set up. Once I got it customised well enough, it’s been amazing though. It’s a tiling window manager so it automates the entire tiling process. If you have multiple simultaneous windows you’re working from, then it’s incredibly practical and useful. You can very easily shift workspaces, float windows, fullscreen windows, rearrange windows etc. It’s modular by design which means I can customise it how I want.
However, it’s not noob friendly. At least not by my definition. Everything requires editing config files and understanding various components that don’t come prepackaged. For example, you need to set up your polkit. Lots of new users won’t even know what that is. Changing wallpapers is also more complicated than most will be used to. I think there is a setup gui app that’s available but I’ve not used it, so lots of editing config files is my experience. The wiki is decent though, so it’s a good project to learn things on. I still have Plasma installed for when I need it but I’ve been on Hyprland for a while now and it’s been great. I’m waiting for Cosmic to get a bit more polished then I might hop over to that, but Hyprland is doing its job for now.
SeriousHoax • 1 points • 2024-11-28
BTW, how is it different from let’s say Sway which is also wayland. Is hyperland just another option or it has many features that are unique to it?
LazyWings • 1 points • 2024-11-28
It’s just another option. Hyprland is newer and shinier. I don’t have enough experience with sway but hyprctl can let you do some interesting stuff. I think Hyprland is a little overhyped, but it is really good once you get it working. I think one of the problems is that documentation is a bit all over the place. I’ve had to problem solve things that could easily have been put on the wiki. I’ve configured mine a lot but there are still feature gaps that I’ve just been too lazy to resolve. Sway by comparison is a lot more stable but isn’t as modular as Hyprland. It’s also a little fun if you’ve got the time to mess around with it. And I always know I can go back to Plasma whenever I want. Then there’s Cosmic which I’m really interested in but I’m waiting a little longer before I try out because I don’t have the capacity to be looking at bugs right now.
SeriousHoax • 1 points • 2024-11-29
I see. Thanks for the explanation. Actually I have never tried a tilling window manager before so I’m curious. I think I should play around in a VM to learn how to set things up. I heard even Plasma can be configured to act like a tilling window manager through plug-ins ( I think).
[deleted] • 1 points • 2024-11-28
Yeah I dont know whats polkit. I heard that latency might be better on it than KDE, nothing changed so instead of exploding my head with annoying configs, Ill stick with plasma for now
LazyWings • 1 points • 2024-11-28
What do you mean by latency? It shouldn’t make any difference in most contexts. I recommend sticking to Plasma. It’s reliable and feature rich. Hyprland is more a toybox than anything else, and Sway and Cosmic are options for tiling if you want that.
[deleted] • 1 points • 2024-11-28
Gaming
LazyWings • 1 points • 2024-11-28
It won’t make any difference in gaming. Try gamescope if you need a wayland session to run a game. I guess Hyprland is lighter than Plasma but that would affect performance not latency.
[deleted] • 1 points • 2024-11-28
I heard people say it gave them better latency and others say performance, neither of them were true in my case. Im sticking to plasma
Edelglatze • 1 points • 2024-11-28
The web site: https://hyprland.org/ and the wiki https://wiki.hyprland.org/ are good places to learn what exactly Hyprland is.
Known-Watercress7296 • 1 points • 2024-11-28
It’s related to Wayland/Weston/wlroots so xorg terminology gets a bit muddled.