Why not fork X11 and add right-wing politics?

Summary

The video delves into the controversial fork of X11 called X Libra, created by developer Enrico, known for his provocative views, including anti-vaccine stances. Despite past issues, Enrico's work has led to significant commits in X11, though his approach has faced criticism due to regressions and a lack of new features. The X Libra project is controversial, with strong political opinions embedded in its mission, leading to its removal from the Free Desktop repository. While some argue X Libra's potential, skepticism remains about its future success and its impact on mainstream distributions.

Takeaways

• 😀 X11 is not dying completely but is transitioning into a niche product, with mainstream distributions moving towards Wayland.
• 😀 X11’s decline is due to the developers' realization that to create a better product, significant changes to its structure were needed, and Wayland was the way forward.
• 😀 The number of commits for the X11 project saw a surprising rise in 2024, largely due to one developer, Enrico, who has also started a new X11 fork called X Libra.
• 😀 Enrico's controversial past, including anti-vaccine views, has raised concerns, but his technical contributions to the X11 project still attract attention.
• 😀 Despite his involvement, Enrico’s commits have resulted in significant regressions in X11, such as breaking X Render, which led to criticism from other developers.
• 😀 Some developers question whether Enrico’s changes have actually fixed anything or merely introduced new bugs, and they have suggested rejecting his contributions unless he proves better testing practices.
• 😀 Enrico’s aggressive tone and conspiracy theories, such as blaming big corporations for X11’s stagnation, have led to a strained relationship with other developers.
• 😀 Enrico created a large number of merge requests that he claimed were necessary to revive X11, but many developers disagreed, with one even stating that X11’s revival was ‘delusional.’
• 😀 Enrico's fork of X11, X Libra, criticized the Free Desktop community, claiming there were toxic members and corporate interests trying to kill the project.
• 😀 X Libra’s creation introduced strong political statements, including rejecting DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and political activism, which raised concerns about inclusivity and harassment policies in open-source projects.

Q & A

What is the main topic discussed in the video?

The main topic of the video is the decline of X11 and the rise of Wayland, particularly focusing on the controversial fork of X11 called X Libra by developer Enrico.

Why is X11 being replaced by Wayland?

X11 is being replaced because Wayland offers a better permission system, enhanced safety, and the potential for a more modern architecture. Many developers realized that to improve, they would need to abandon X11's outdated structure.

Who is Enrico, and what is his role in the X11 project?

Enrico is a developer who made significant contributions to the X11 project in 2024. He has since forked X11 to create a new project called X Libra, though his contributions have been controversial.

What were some of Enrico’s controversial actions or views?

Enrico has been involved in a few controversies, including sending an email with anti-vaccine claims to the Linux kernel mailing list and injecting political views into his work on X Libra, such as opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.

How did other developers react to Enrico’s work on X11?

Other developers criticized Enrico’s contributions due to significant regressions, such as breaking XRender. They also questioned his testing practices and technical approach, with some suggesting his work introduced more bugs than it fixed.

What is the significance of Enrico’s fork, X Libra?

X Libra is Enrico’s attempt to create a new version of X11, and while it has been met with some skepticism, it represents his response to what he perceives as stagnation in the X11 project, driven by corporate interests and toxic developers.

Why was X Libra removed from the Free Desktop GitLab repository?

X Libra was removed because its values, including its criticism of DEI and its political statements, were seen as incompatible with the values of the Free Desktop project. The repository administrators banned Enrico, claiming his project went against their core principles.

What is Enrico’s reaction to being banned from Free Desktop GitLab?

Enrico claimed that his ban was an example of censorship by Free Desktop and criticized them for not embracing freedom of speech. He accused them of attempting to suppress the X Libra project because of its ideological differences.

What is the current state of X Libra’s development?

X Libra is still in its early stages, and its future is uncertain. While Enrico has made several commits, they are mostly small changes with minimal new features, and many developers are skeptical about its long-term viability.

Did the decision to stop using X11 in distributions like Fedora and Ubuntu have anything to do with X Libra?

No, the decision to discontinue X11 in distributions like Fedora and Ubuntu was planned months before the creation of X Libra. It was unrelated to Enrico’s fork of X11.