this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024
49 points (88.9% liked)
Linux
48328 readers
507 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
As I understand it, functionality like VRR is provided by the DRM driver in the kernel, not the compositor. Hence my question.
LOL that's exactly what they do.
They do not need to take the desktop environment into account. They ask for a window and they render into it. They'll ask for a window using either the OpenGL or Vulcan API. Both those APIs abstract the windowing system away, the desktop is entirely irrelevant. Under Wayland, the compositor requests a buffer from the kernel, provides it to the game and then manages where on the desktop that buffer is rendered. The game's rendering is done directly (talking to the kernel and GPU driver) without going anywhere near either the compositor or the desktop environment.
The desktop environment means nothing when it comes to gaming. Except in so far as it may provide a GUI to configure aspects of the system that would otherwise be configured on the comand line or, for example by interacting with /sys.
This is why I asked what OP meant when they said KDE "supports" gaming better. Seems ridiculous. The desktop environment is not involved in game rendering. It has no impact. I'm mystified as to why people think it does.
There is no HDR protocol for Wayland, so Wayland compositors cannot display HDR content. X11 also does not have HDR support, so window managers can't do it either. Games don't draw their own windows. If the compositor doesn't support HDR, the game isn't gonna be displayed in HDR. If the compositor doesn't support VRR, then VRR is also not going to work. Plasma 6 implements a custom Wayland HDR protocol which is also implemented by the Steam Deck. This allows it to display HDR content. It has also had VRR support for a few years. GNOME is waiting for the official HDR protocol for Wayland to be complete before implementing support, so it doesn't have it. It also didn't have VRR until relatively recently.
If you don't believe this, then can you explain why Plasma devs have been advertising HDR support as one of Plasma 6's killer features? Can you explain the purpose of this recently merged VRR merge request for Mutter? What is the purpose of this merge request for a color management/HDR Wayland protocol which has been in the works for years? If compositors have no involvement in HDR or VRR, then why are their developers working their asses off to make it work? And most importantly, can you show me HDR on Linux working in GNOME? Or Cinnamon? Or anything that's not Plasma or Gamescope?