Like it or not, Wayland is quickly becoming the go-to standard for popular Linux desktops. Distros like Fedora and Ubuntu have already begun their move away from Xorg, the aging display server that’s powered Linux desktops for decades.
Of course, this shift hasn't been without challenges, but support for Wayland has steadily improved over the years across major desktop environments and applications.
Now, Kubuntu is joining the list of Wayland-only distros with its upcoming 25.10 release.
What's Happening: Going forward, Kubuntu 25.10 and any subsequent releases won’t include an Xorg session by default. New installations will boot into a Wayland session instead.
This change aligns with upstream efforts from both KDE and Ubuntu to prioritize Wayland development. KDE has been focused on enhancing the Wayland desktop experience by fixing bugs, improving compatibility, and making it more stable and reliable for users.
For Ubuntu, we already know they are making this transition with the 25.10 release. Rik Mills from the Kubuntu team had the following to say on the Launchpad page about the change:
Kubuntu should now be fully ready for this. In fact, on latest Questing daily ISO we no longer install the Plasma X11 session by default. It can be installed for users who want it via the package plasma-session-x11.
Rationale is that it is highly improbable that we can support the X11 session in 26.04 LTS (or now even), so like Ubuntu desktop it is probably better to rip off this sticking plaster in 25.10 and concentrate on wayland with less distraction.
What to Expect: As a user, you can expect improved security, smoother graphics, and better support for modern hardware with the Wayland session. However, if you need to stay on the X11 session for app compatibility or other reasons, you can manually install it by adding the plasma-session-x11 package via the command line.
Another thing to keep in mind is that existing users won't be affected by this change; it is only that new installations will be switched over to the Wayland session.
I’m sure many users won’t like this move, but it’s one of those changes that feels inevitable for modern Linux desktops.
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